This year, gluten-free dishes included a lemon-oregano shrimp with schug and feta—a lemony-herbal romp served over rice livened up with dried apricots. (Adding dried fruit to liven up rice is a favored trick by Green Chef, one I might plan to add to my normal cooking routines.) The American-fished shrimp were plump and hearty, with no briny fishiness.

Yemeni schug remains one of my favorite condiments in existence, though this version could have been spicier. And the rice could have been more plentiful, perhaps. But these are small quibbles on a light, bright meal with lovely layers of flavor from herbal schug to toasted cauliflower and kale and the lightly tart bite of apricot.

I would almost never bring together this many ingredients on a weekday night, were they not helpfully bagged up in single portions. Indeed, if I tried, I probably would end up spending more at the grocery store than on the meal kit, as I discovered after an experiment last year.

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

But especially, I have been impressed with protein sourcing. A well-trimmed bavette steak last year came from a fourth-generation meat purveyor in Texas. So did my chicken breast this year, on a harissa chicken dish. Shrimp are Atlantic coast, not Southeast Asian coast. My salmon was wild-caught. My steelhead came from a fishery in Norway. Each is clearly and transparently marked—a rarity among proteins from meal delivery services.

That steelhead in particular was among my favorite home meals of the summer. The dish’s secret, again, was layering: earthy spice on the fish, citric accents and crispness on the gremolata. The pleasing chew of dates countered the soft give of ginger-spiced couscous.

While eating it, I actually felt proud of myself—though it only took a scant 40 minutes to make. If anything, this summer’s meals were more sophisticated, but lower effort, than the Green Chef meals I tried last year.

Quibbles

Green Chef’s recipe cards are thoughtfully designed, with helpful pictures guiding the way. But their format tends to separate out each prep step in full, carrying the entire step through to completion, whether veggie chopping or couscous cooking.

This makes sense, of course. But this does lead to a simple caution: Green Chef does not hold your hand as well as some meal kits as regards the best order of operations. Read through each recipe in its entirety before cooking, and decide your game plan.