At the end of a long day, we have occasionally found ourselves eating Nutella out of a jar in lieu of eating an actual meal. We hold our lack of energy and desire for a quick, delicious fix responsible for our unconventional and not-so-nutritious meal choices. However, Cook! SF, a ready-to-cook meal service, has proven itself an appetizing and time-efficient alternative to eating chocolate hazelnut spreads at 10:30 p.m.

Cook! SF aims to offer simple, healthy and fresh meals that have the taste of fine dining but are enjoyable and easy to prepare. Each week there is a new set menu for each of the two meal plans, the detox diet and the gourmet meal plan. Both plans feature about seven different lunch and dinner options. Meals are delivered every Wednesday.

Seeing as a full two-week plan could cost up to $870, including delivery fees, we each decided to try just one meal. We had a bit of trouble ordering the food. Normally orders are placed about a week before, to be delivered the next Wednesday. The latest an order can be made is the Friday before the delivery date. Being newbies to the whole “order your healthy food online and we’ll send you the ingredients so you can make it yourself” situation, we waited until 4:40 p.m. on Friday afternoon to call in to place our orders. For some reason, the computer would not let us order for Jan. 12, but skipped to the week after that to Jan. 19, even though it was a full 20 minutes before the deadline. However, the Cook! SF people were very nice and called Adriana back over the weekend to help place our orders. Below, the results of our (mostly) homemade meals.

Amy's Fantastic Fish Food

I ordered the Jan. 12 seafood entrée, and received what after just 20 minutes of cooking was supposed to become mahi mahi with lemon caper dressing and sautéed rainbow chard with raisins and cranberries. I was skeptical how the tiny bio-pak box contained all the ingredients for my dinner, but it was packed to the brim with everything I needed. The box had conveniently pre-measured ingredients, from the mahi mahi to a small container of raisins and cranberries. My usual problem with new recipes is having to go out to the grocery store just to buy one ingredient I was missing or buying a specific ingredient and never using it again.

In the box was a small list of the necessary equipment, step-by-step instructions and a picture of what my end result was supposed to look like. Thankfully, confusing cooking terminology was absent and everything was laid out in layman’s terms. The lovely people at Cook! SF probably understand that they aren’t serving the world’s next Iron Chefs. They take the time to explain things like when you would know that the olive oil you’re heating in a frying pan is hot (when you see “wisps of smoke coming off the pan”).

Whizzing through the rest of the instructions, 20 minutes later I soon found myself serving the mahi mahi on top of the rainbow chard, and drizzling on the lemon caper dressing as the final touch. Not only that, but I didn’t have to sacrifice the appearance of the meal for the speed of cooking. The luscious meal was worth the dirty dishes.

Adriana's Sludge Surprise

I ordered the Jan. 12 special, homemade organic chicken masala with a side of roasted cauliflower and brown rice. When the spiffy-looking cooler bag arrived at my house, I was a bit disappointed to find a box filled with greenish chunky sludge. This did not look like the gourmet curry I had paid $14.95 for. However, once I popped it all in the microwave, as instructed by my easy-to-follow instructions, the green sauce suddenly looked yummy. The chunks looked like chicken.

The entire transformation of my meal took about 10 minutes. Although I am usually not one for spicy foods, the masala sauce was mild enough and creamy. Mixing together the sauce, chicken and rice in my bowl turned it into a hearty stew. The cauliflower complemented the ginger, onion and garlic masala sauce. And there was enough extra for it to become my sister’s dinner as well.

Cook! SF keeps everyone happy. Even my health-conscious mother, who takes pride in being the organic cook in the family, proclaimed, after stealing a bite of my meal, that “This could work.”

Photos by Amy Char