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It’s no secret that I am to cooking what a naked flame is to a straw bale.

Disaster follows me like a shadow, whether it’s burned pasta, raw potatoes or mistaking sugar for salt (easy mistake, could happen to anyone).

So when I was invited to try new cookery website Marley Spoon for size, I was a bit nervous.

Friends hastily made plans that involved being out of town.

Marley Spoon is an online food delivery merchant. Visit their website each week, and you can choose from a fresh, seasonal menu of seven meat, fish and vegetarian dishes.

Choose your meal, and you’ll receive a neatly packaged set of perfectly measured ingredients in the post a couple of days later, along with a step-by-step recipe card showing you how to create fantastic restaurant-style meals in your own home.

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There are a couple of things I really loved about this service:

  • It’s cheaper than a takeaway, with meals starting at around £6pp, significantly cheaper than my local Chinese restaurant
  • The quality is amazing, with ingredients being organic where-ever possible, seasonal and locally sourced.
  • The packaging is so thoughtful, using paper bags and packaging, along with eco-friendly sheeps’ wool insulation, which keeps everything perfectly chilled for days.

I had just one small reservation. Marley Spoon asks new customers to subscribe to a plan of at least 2 meals a week for 2 people – which costs £36 a week. It’s great value considering what you get – but for me, I’d probably subscribe to receive one box a month, freeze the perishables and just use the recipe bags on a Saturday night, when I have the time and energy to cook. Luckily, Marley Spoon lets you skip, pause and cancel the subscription as needed, so you can certainly do this.

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Enough of such quibbles, though, what was the food like?

We opted to try a recipe for spicy chicken skewers with asian glass noodle salad and it was … divine. Even Flea – who refuses to eat chilli, or anything that’s seasoned – wolfed this dinner down and asked for leftovers the next day.

The recipe was fairly laborious for kitchen idlers such as us, I won’t lie – but with step-by-step instructions, including pictures, Flea and I managed to get everything together and cook something that looked pretty impressive, and even better, it tasted great.

Having all the ingredients weighed and measured saved a lot of time (and wastage). I don’t mind confessing, we did take a couple of short cuts – I’m of the opinion that any recipe calling for julienne carrots works just as well with grated carrot, for example. And you simply can’t argue with the end result – it was brilliant (not to mention foolproof).

If you fancy trying out your own cooking skills first, I’ve included the recipe for Marley Spoon’s spicy peanut chicken skewers with asian glass noodle salad below – along with the chance to try out the service for yourself!

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Win 3 Gourmet Dinners from Marley Spoon!

Marley Spoon are offering one Who’s the Mummy reader the chance to win THREE of their gourmet recipe packs (each pack serves two people) to try out – a package worth up to £90!

So if you fancy cheating your way to a gourmet dinner one weekend, then simply comment on this post to tell me what your own favourite “special” dinner recipe would be – are you a steak and chips girl, or can you whip up a mean thai green curry?

Don’t forget to complete the Rafflecopter widget – bonus entries are available. Entry open to UK adults, 18+, winner chosen at random from all eligible entries, closing date 22/5/15.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here’s the recipe (items marked with a * were not included in the Marley Spoon recipe box):

Ingredients 

  • Fresh thai basil
  • Unsalted, roasted peanuts
  • 3 red chillies, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 limes
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • Soft dark brown sugar – about 75g
  • Fresh Coriander
  • 2cm fresh ginger
  • 1 carrot, peeled
  • 1 cucumber
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp chinese rice wine vinegar*
  • pinch salt*
  • 5 tbsp olive oil*
  • Salt and pepper to taste*
  • Kebab skewers, soaked in cold water
  1. Start by making your peanut-chilli paste. We did this by adding the peanuts, chilli, garlic, soy sauce and 2/3 sugar into a bowl with 2 tbsp of oil. Blitz to form a chunky paste.
  2. Use half the sauce to cover your chopped chicken breasts, cover and place in the fridge.
  3. Meanwhile place the noodles into a bowl, cover with just-boiled water and soak for 3 minutes. Drain and return the noodles to the bowl.
  4. Cook the chicken by placing the marinated chunks of meat onto skewers and grilling in a hot oven for 5 mins each side, until cooked through.
  5. Make the salad dressing by adding the remaining sugar, 1tbsp vinegar, 3tbsp oil and the juice of a lime into a bowl and mixing. Season to taste.
  6. Cut the carrot and cucumber into thin strips and combine with the noodles and dressing.
  7. Finally, peel and finely grate the ginger, and add to the salad, along with roughly chopped herbs.
  8. Serve the skewers with the remaining peanut sauce, lime wedges and noodle salad.

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