Eating good food can be a challenge for many busy Washingtonians. The traffic alone can zap the energy right out of you while removing productive hours from your day. By the time the average person finally reaches their kitchen after a work day, the concept of what is a proper meal becomes debatable. You get home famished, exhausted, and often not in the mood to fire up the old’ stove top and make another hour of dish duty after dinner.

Moroccan Meatballs w/ Mediterranean Slaw,
Yam Salad and Muhammara Dip
From: DC Empanadas

Granted, some folks like myself are just full of energy, and cooking is therapeutic for us “Home-Chef” types. Most people, however, just want ready-to-eat food to appear before them so that they can kick up their feet and unwind from the day. Dinner time has become the final point of the day when we are only thinking about sustenance. Many have no patience to tinker with the concept of our meal being “Nutrient-dense and Delicious”.

Power Supply, a “table-ready” meal delivery service, have found a solution to this common problem, and they invited me and my wife to give their meals a try. Power Supply offers Paleo, Vegetarian, and Mixitarian diet options. The meals are prepared by local chefs and delivered to either your home or to a gym or one of their many regional pickup locations. We swung by the VIDA Fitness Verizon Center location (1 block from DC Life Magazine headquarters) and grabbed them out of their ice cold Power Supply refrigeration unit. The meals came in reusable plastic containers, similar to fancy to-go boxes. They were clear on the top, and each was labeled with the meal, which chef, restaurant or caterer crafted the meal, an ingredient list, and heating directions. The boxes also have an “eat by” date to ensure you consume your power supply while it’s still fresh.

The point is that you get nutrition and convenience. To put it simply, Paleo and Vegetarian meals consist of real, whole foods in order to prevent added preservatives, hidden sugars, sodium, additives, coloring, artificial flavoring and who knows what else. Paleo meals are high in protein and low in fats. Vegetarian meals are foods that made of only plants: fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts.

But I want to talk about taste.  Of the nine meals that we received, Northwest Fresh was most consistent with bringing the great flavor.  My wife loved their Chorizo Egg Muffin, and I thought it was fine for having to microwave eggs. We both agreed that the Chicken Salad with Crumbled Bacon was tasty, though it was on more sweet than savory. Chef Rachelle of Northwest Fresh kept breakfast simple and efficient with a hard-boiled egg, a wonderful Paleo Cereal that came with fruit and almond milk.

My favorite dish overall was from Coleman’s. They presented and Artichoke Pesto Chicken & Spaghetti Squash. The sauce was tangy, full of flavor, and well-seasoned. Great Job from Coleman’s.

My biggest disappointment was the Rustic Tomato Chicken Chili with Brown Rice & Quinoa. I couldn’t eat this, and I had to spit it out. My wife felt the same, and my kids hated it. This recipe needs to be reworked because using the word chili creates expectations. This seemed to be consistent with the Tucson label because my second biggest let down was their Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce, Tangy Slaw & Brown Rice. I think maybe the Chef was playing it safe with the salt in both of these dishes, maybe for dietary concerns. I know that Grass-fed Beef can be challenging to cook with, but this food tasted like there was a “zero-sodium” approach to cooking it. The texture of the steak was fine, however, the flavors of the meat and the slaw were amiss.

What is great about Power Supply is that they allow you to rate the dishes, and the ones in need of help go back to the drawing board. I think that it’s a great way for Power Supply to collect customer feedback and immediately improve their service. All-in-all the Power Supply food seemed to be of great quality and warming up the meals was a breeze. I would recommend this service to anyone who is busy, cares about what they are eating and can pay for convenience.

Written by: Eugene Smith

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