Our Ideal Meal
‘Tis the season to: eat, drink and be merry.
For busy moms: shop, cook and be harried.
The battle to put a delicious, slow-cooked meal on the table doesn’t disappear during the holidays. In fact, it often gets worse. Whether we’re feeding drop-ins, house guests or our own hungry brood, we inevitably spend too much of our precious family time in our Christmas aprons, because we think that fast-food just isn’t festive. But what if there was delicious food that’s only fast for you? We’ll explain. These two local services are sure to put the holiday cheer back into your eggnog.
Indishpensable is the ideal sous-chef for foodies and perfect for those who want gourmet cooking, but don’t have the time (or talent). Indish’s ‘Chef and Serve’ service entails gourmet recipes for two, like yummy Fraser Valley duck with shiitake cabbage cream sauce ($32). Each neatly packed dinner bag from Indish includes fresh and local ingredients, all of which have been washed, chopped and measured for you, and are ready-to-cook. Following step-by-step directions, you will quickly whip up a beautiful meal, good enough to pass off as your own (wink). You would be hard-pressed to beat the price if you bought the ingredients yourself, which makes this a great choice for carefree entertaining or for a date night in.
Indishpensable’s other meal solution, ‘Heat and Serve’, features upscale frozen meals for two, like shepherd’s pie made with lamb, cooked in a red wine veal jus with turnip, leek, carrot and rosemary and topped with mashed potato ($18.50). Indish’s owners, Brent Kyle and Tammy Siu, have tested all of their recipes on their own child and have rated on their menus those that passed as family friendly. As much as we love visiting Indish on Arbutus or at its new spot in the Public Market at Granville Island, we’re equally excited about its Vancouver and North Shore delivery service.
Another savvy solution for time-crunched moms, Taste to Savour, is run by chef mom Tracy Rowand. Tracy keeps her pantry and counter well-stocked with a rotating menu of baked goods, fresh salads and ready-made entrées. Tracy also stocks a mean freezer, full of delicious homemade soups like thick minestrone, and hearty meals for four that really feed four. We love that Taste to Savour has a good selection of caterer quality, ready-to-serve frozen appetizers, handy to have when those drop-ins show up.
Having a youngster of her own, Tracy remembers how parents struggle to satisfy their own palates while feeding their kids. For instance, Tracy substitutes traditional pastry on top of chicken pot pie with whipped yams ($19.95), perfect for feeding a toddler while still letting others eat like adults. Always the mom, she sneaks nutritious ingredients into her delicious dishes, like puréed cauliflower and whole wheat pasta in her old fashioned macaroni and cheese. Do we need another reason to feel good about outsourcing our food prep?
When it comes to turkey time, lucky for us, both Indishpensable and Taste to Savour have come to our rescue this Christmas with fresh, brined or stuffed gourmet turkeys, ready-to-cook with fail-proof directions, each with their own delicious flare. Along with a bevy of ready-to-serve side dishes, your guests will gush that you should not have gone to all that trouble.
And you will smile a savvy smile, because you didn’t.
Indishpensable
www.indish.ca
(604) 731-3474
Taste to Savour
www.tastetosavour.com
(604) 729-0149
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Tested by Sheila C., North Vancouver |  |