Plated and Blue Apron

If I'm going to order a meal service then I don't want to have to cook the meal and clean up.

A friend sent me a box, too. I was underwhelmed. Recipes were not super flavorful, also too fussy/cheffy/too many components (to me) for weeknight after work cooking. I imagine if you had a tiny kitchen, no pantry, few on-hand staples, and very limited cooking skills, you'd like Blue Apron. Photo recipe cards were easy enough to follow, though a bit needlessly fussy.

I did not subscribe for the second week, even at a 50% discount, because the recipes for the upcoming month were lame. Grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken, way too many beets & root veg.

Also, a major part of the enjoyment of cooking is deciding what to make, matching food w/how I'm feeling, and being able to eat exactly what I prefer at any given meal. Being stuck w/someone else's preset menu saps all the joy out of it: you're reduced to being a line cook, executing someone else's vision in your own damn kitchen.