New year, new me.
Actually, new year, same me.
The same me that fresses my way through December, gaining the same 8lbs I've struggled to lose the year before.
And I'm back on that hamster wheel and existing on hard boiled eggs, fat-free yoghurt, fruit and veg. (Sigh) So, after supplying me with a fabulously healthy breakfast recipe for my health-themed first page of the year, when the Detox Kitchen asked me if I'd like to test their healthy food delivery service, I almost bit their hands off.
Sadly, you need a London postcode to eat trendy, healthy nosh. My address, the wrong side of the M25 is too far from their Fitzrovia and Soho Deli kitchens. I opted for a healthy day at the JC's offices which are fortunately on patch. They drop the food off between 3am and 7am. With no one there to take delivery in the small hours, I was convinced my meals would be purloined by a passing vagrant. Always fearful of an unmet food need, I arrived with a bag of my own nosh. However, when I arrived , a cute black and white cardboard box full of goodies was waiting for me.
Inside were various containers, labelled with the meal part they represented. I'd gone for the Ultimate Vegan Re-set. A day's worth of meals amounting to 1300 calories of meat, fish and dairy-free tastiness.
It all looked deliciously - and saintly. I kicked off with a pot of nut granola with yoghurt (vegan) and fruit compote which was packed with flavour. The granola was nut-based and toasted in something sweetly cinnamony. A real treat.
Mid-morning, I trotted back to the box and knocked back a ginger shot. Not for the faint hearted, it was literally juiced ginger. My guts are, I hope, thanking me for that. I also enjoyed a bottle of very green Super Spirulina - a blend of apple, cucumber, (more) ginger, lemon and spirulina. It was, pleasingly, the same hue as my new bright green cardi.
By midday I was peckish. My usual 'hard-boiled egg plus fruit salad' start to the day seems to last longer than the more calorifically dense DK way. Or perhaps I normally eat far too much.
I held out for another 30 minutes before noshing up a DELICIOUS portion of noodles, cashews and veg coated in an umami-packed, soy based dressing.
The contents of the box are, by mid-afternoon, worryingly low. A vegan snack; pouch of green powder; a Pukka mint tea bag; vegan dinner and vegan dessert were all that I had left. I plucked out the vegan snack. Also hugely tasty. A pot of soft baked sweet potato coated in what tasted like soy, smoked paprika, coriander and sesame seeds. So, so good, but depressingly, leaving me with only two more pots of food. (Cue sad face.)
An afternoon interview with a man who sells bread followed by a quick stroll through the (non-food) stores of Brent Cross shopping centre took my mind off my stomach for the rest of the afternoon.
Supper - a generous pot of Thai green curry with broccoli, edamame and courgette was equally tasty, and, pretty filling. End of the day exhaustion meant I shovelled down the berry (vegan) cheesecake in seconds. All very nice. And all gone.
I would give the Detox Kitchen plan 4 out of 5: The day spent as a virtuous vegan was a treat and left me feeling saintly and not (too) starving. But, and it's a biggish but, it doesn't come cheap. A one-off day on this plan would cost an eye-watering £37. If you can afford it, it's a delicious way of weight-loss/re-setting/not having to cook. The food is full of flavour and they've done all hard work — working out what's vegan and actually creating super tasty dishes.
It loses marks for the huge plastic footprint it creates. Bar the main box, everything arrived dressed in plastic. If they can find a more environmentally friendly way of delivering their delicacies it would be a 4 1/2 or even a 5 - for those with deep pockets.
