Great for...Mindful Chef's raison d'etre is all in the name- making us think through the food we're feeding ourselves. To that end, the service is a brilliant reminder that preparing a meal truly from scratch can be a soothing and actually-not-too-difficult process. Of course, they make it infinitely easier by providing all the ingredients ready weighed out for you, just chopping and cooking required.
Hunger factor: Minimal. I tried the two-person package, sharing two of the three meals with my boyfriend then having the leftovers of the third one for my lunch the next day, a practice I'd definitely recommend, even if you are signing up just for yourself. The portions seemed generous and the recipes all contained some form of healthy grain to keep hunger at bay.
Flavour ranking: Excellent, all the recipes contained delicious, flavour-rich ingredients like paprika or garlic. Although I'm not a vegan I was fascinated to try nutritional yeast which added a lovely cheesy taste to the buckwheat risotto.
Weight loss: That wasn't the aim for me but I certainly felt less bloated after eating the Mindful Chef recipes than I do after my usual bowl of pesto pasta. With plenty of hearty vegetables and sensible amounts of unrefined carbs, the meals are a no-brainer way to a healthier dinner.
Skin-boosting: I didn't test them for long enough to notice a discernible difference.
Energy levels: Excellent. The moderate portions of slow-release carbs meant I didn't suffer the all-too-common, give-me-sugar afternoon slump when I ate the meals for lunch.
Logistical ease:The delivery system was excellent; the box containing everything I would need was left outside my house on Monday morning, in time for me to come home and cook on Monday evening. Perhaps the only downside was the amount of packaging but this is the sacrifice you make for the ease of the concept and thankfully most of it was recyclable.
Difficulty rating:If you're in search of a no-fuss way to eat healthily then this, quite frankly, is not it. Although each meal came packaged in cleverly colour coded bags with all the ingredients pre-weighed, there was still a significant amount of cooking and chopping to get through. I'd say that you need between 30 and 45 minutes clear to prepare each meal. But I really appreciated the care and attention which this forced me to give my dinner. While I do often cook from scratch already, Mindful Chef made me consider different ingredients which take a little longer to prepare. An added bonus? Chopping a huge butternut squash into cubes was a seriously good arm toning opportunity.
From 9 per day for one person. Tested by Bethan Holt
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The best diet delivery services - Telegraph.co.uk
