Review: The Vegan Garden
A couple years ago, I used a Groupon to order food from The Vegan Garden, and I honestly wasn’t too impressed. They recently offered to send me some of their products for review, so I thought I’d try them again. They’re a home delivery meal service, offering breakfast, lunch/dinner, juice, and dessert options. You can order as much or as little as you want, and it’s shipped to you frozen on dry ice. Then you thaw it and heat it as you go. Super easy!
Let’s start with this lasagna… yum! I’m not sure what the base of the cheese is but it’s gooey and cheesy and wonderful. I added marinara sauce because I love sauce, but otherwise this was well cooked and flavored. I topped it with Kelly’s Croutons Cheezy Parm for just a little extra flavor and texture.
I think all of their juices are delicious! They’re named as smoothies, but they’re juices. The Cocoa Power Smoothie is probably my favorite because of the chocolate and peanut butter. I like that you can keep these in your freezer then thaw them in the fridge overnight without worrying about them spoiling. You can buy individual juices or purchase them as part of a cleanse.
The Vegan Garden has single serving sweet treats, and so far I’ve tried the Banana Bar and Chocolate Muffin. The Banana Bar has a nice, light banana flavor but it’s dry. They recommend microwaving the Chocolate Muffin for 20 seconds or so, and I second this recommendation! It makes it feel like it’s fresh out of the oven.
Gumbo isn’t something I ate growing up, so I’m not entirely familiar with the flavors. That might be why I didn’t really enjoy The Vegan Garden’s gumbo. I tried several bites but couldn’t get on board with it. It’s nice that they include vegan sausage, but my meal only had two slices of it. I would have rather had more kidney beans.
The final dish I’ve tried so far is Mongolian Chik’n. This was pretty good! I wish the vegetables were slightly less cooked, but I see that as a personal preference.
As I’ve been eating all of this, I’ve thought about the fact that some of these entrees are open to putting your own spin on them, like I did with the lasagna. For the Mongolian Chik’n, I added a splash of chili oil to bring up the heat level.
The Vegan Garden really takes out the hassle of preparing, cooking, and cleaning but allows you to add some touches that still makes you feel like you accomplished something. I’m glad I gave them a second chance because overall I’ve been happy with the experience. I still have a few entrees and desserts to try, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, check out The Vegan Garden’s website. While they provided me with their products, opinions expressed are my own.