One of these places is Fresh Prep, described as an online marketplace that deliver fresh and local ingredients with gourmet recipes that you can cook a delicious and healthy meal within half an hour.
The fabulous thing about Fresh Prep is everything is measured and portioned off for you, so you literally have to read the recipe card, cut open the portions and toss it into your pan. You’ll only need a pan, some salt and pepper and oil to get most recipes going – everything else they provide.
Fresh Prep provides exceptional ingredients and uses local producers and farms throughout greater Vancouver, including Avalon Dairy and Maple Hill Farms to name a few.
They have plenty of options that are Gluten Free and Vegetarian, so if you have dietary restrictions you can definitely still enjoy this meal.
The recipes on the site are put together by local chefs and approved nutritionist – if you head onto their website, you’ll see that the menu changes weekly but you’ll have a couple of different set menus to choose from. Most items range from $10.50-$12.00, which is not bad considering you’d spend almost just as much going to a restaurant or fast food place.
Just in time for Valentines Day, they are offering a delicious dinner for two that can also include wine! On February 13th and 14th, you can order their Valentine’s Day Dinner that includes:
Fresh Prep Lemon Rosemary Salmon with Arugula and Ancient Grain Risotto for Two
Sandhill Estate Chardonnay 2014 (Optional)
Lemon squares
A decorative candle
Without the wine, this dinner for two is $44, with wine is $60.
I was fortunate to try this meal out before Valentines Day thanks to the good people at Fresh Prep, and believe me if you want to impress your date and keep it low key that you had a little help from Fresh Prep, this meal is spectacular and super easy to put together – I’d definitely recommend it if you’re having a private dinner at home that weekend.
Simply start off with making the risotto and ancient grain, then put the salmon in the oven – all the fixings and trimmings are included.
The taste of the meal itself is fantastic – the salmon was nice – flaky but still moist and had a light, unfishy taste to it due partly to the lemons and rosemary. The ancient grains risotto is a perfect portion for two – well two people like my husband and me. It might be a lot more to some people (we had leftovers). The risotto is very flavourful and moist.
The lemon squares are good – I can’t say I’m a huge fan of lemon, so I’d probably not the best person to speak on these. If you’re not a fan of lemon either, there is another dessert option on the site you can choose from for future meals (Erin Ireland’s To Die For Chocolate and Macadamia Banana Bread).
The wine sent to me was not the Sandhill Chardonnay, so I can’t comment on that, but I think Sandhill is a good choice.
You can order the meal days in advance and pay via credit card or cash on delivery, they have a wide delivery network within Vancouver so most likely, it’ll be available in your area. Delivery times can vary, as they have a couple delivery time ‘windows’.
Fresh Prep is a great idea for busy people, new parents who may not have time to go shopping, seniors who may want to try different dishes but don’t have easy access to stores and just anyone in general who want to try something new but don’t want to stock up their kitchen with too many items that they might not use again. I will definitely be using their service again!
