Best feature: Huge portions, beautiful step-by-step recipe cards, .PDF copies of the recipes included in your Account details.

Worst feature: The recipes (...sadly!)

The first meal delivery box I chose to review was Plated. I chose it based on rave reviews and its high price tag. I figured it was a perfect place to start and a company that surely wouldn't disappoint.

While their customer service and commitment to recycling (carbon neutral packaging by 2016) is awesome, their recipes fell short for us. Unfortunately, it's all about the recipe when it comes to cooking. Three of the four recipes we made, I felt like they tried too hard to throw in a stand-out ingredient. The cheesecake didn't need Greek yogurt. The mint in the chicken salad was weird. There was too much going on with the quinoa salad. The gyros, however, were fantastic.

I took a look at next week's menu to see if that trend continued. There are some sure-fire recipes such as fried chicken, burgers, and breaded fish. Some of the other options sound completely foreign to me, such as:

• Cold peanut noodles with maple cayenne cashews and sambal-glazed eggplant and peppers
• Crispy tamarind-ginger chickpeas with mustard seed, tahini yogurt, and spinach
• Smoked salad with mache salad, bagel chips, and sesame-poppy seed vinaigrette

Maple cayenne cashews? What's sambal? Tamarind-ginger? Tahini yogurt? Mache? It's entirely possible that Plated is too advanced for my palate. I was a picky kid and have been very slow to try new things as an adult. I still don't each fish because "Ew, fish". I had never tried kale before this box.

If you are a picky eater, perhaps Plated is not for you. If you are an adventurous vegetarian, give Plated a shot. Unfortunately, I wasn't a Plated customer long enough to give out an official coupon code. If you give Plated a shot, do a quick Google search for one.

Here's a quick visual reminder of the recipes I reviewed:

Chinese-Style Chicken Salad with Napa Cabbage, Almonds, and Mustard Soy Vinaigrette:

Steak and Zucchini Gyros with Pesto:



And finally, Greek Yogurt Cheesecake: