Peak Glam: What’s for dinner? 

Somehow, I always seem to experience new food in off-season. There was a fab prix fixe for $45 at The Meadows last spring (sadly not back this fall), but West End Social continues through off-season, local and affordable as it gets with saki or beer options holding steady at $10 or less (for whoever needs to know). 

The Meadows was where I won a $100 voucher raffle win for The Golden Horn at the second annual Golden Days event (my retriever loved this party). The voucher went far on affordable après salads, pizzas, nachos and burgers. I took a friend; we splurged wanting to try everything and the decent portions enabled two “doggy bags” to be enjoyed after at home!  

As a regular contributor during the early naughties to the New York Post, my “trending” beat spanned fashion, style, nightlife and travel. Sometimes the brief called for crazy assignments, sometimes food-themed. 

Sensing an actual hospitality shift from strictly drinks menus at my favorite watering holes to menus with “noshes” or “apps,” the new drinking-dining protocol was less bar-hop and more couch-potato as bars turned in to lounges. Proprietors figured, if patrons were comfortable, they’d stay and spend more money. Balancing appetizer plates on knees and learning how to share food on low coffee tables was the new challenge. One night, a Post photographer was even sent to trail me on the Lower East Side for a photoshoot to feature alongside my “do’s” and “don’ts” etiquette piece on couch dining!  

One week, I was asked to write up the ZONE diet. Dr Barry Sears five-small-meals-a-day protocol and meals with 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat were brought daily to my door, in airplane-style packaging. I liked the “no thinking” when it came to “what’s for dinner?” Dinner was whatever arrived. I wrote my story and lost a pound or two, my body showing its metabolic approval. 

I had not thought about this long past assignment until a local friend informed me of the female-owned Tuesday Foods, in Carbondale: an established local business that spends days prepping, packing and sending coolers of chef and nutritionist designed plant-forward meals in different configuration plans to customers up and down the Roaring Fork Valley, and as far as Boulder and Denver. I was intrigued. I was also amazed to learn that Lisa Cohen and Kelly Hollins, the owners, serve more than 2,000 customers. They offered me a “try out” as a writer of their entry level program, some free samples of their “Let’s do Lunch” (normally around $225). More expansive plans price differently, but the starter experience would give me the idea of their brand. My opinions, as always, are my own.

Brimming with curiosity, I sniffed at the contents in the Instagram-worthy packing tubs as I unpacked their cooler when it arrived on a Tuesday (as per their name). The colorful spread of veg in my empty fridge made me instantly happy. They’d sent additional smoothies, which freeze (devotees swear by these), and some crudites and dips, too. It wasn’t time for lunch, but I opened the Romesco Dip and jammed some cucumber and jicama wedges in. Oh god, it was divine. “This won’t last,” I said out loud. It was 10.30 a.m.   

Some light prep is needed for best enjoyment, and here the chef-curation comes into play with serving directions. Meal plans offering protein add-ons are coming soon, but for now, I added some of my own. An easy hard-boiled egg here, a dollop of cottage cheese there.  

I tried their Fall Harvest Salad with fennel and candied pecans (with a fresh apple to chop in), and directions suggested the butternut squash be warmed. I followed to the letter, and it was so tasty and filling. I’m a small person, and a confessed volume eater, but it was enough. After this successful first meal, I ate the Broccoli ‘Cheddar’ Soup (not actual cheese, meals are vegan and non-dairy) on a cooler rainy day, and it lasted two meals, it was so filling. The Good Clean Lasagna I popped in the freezer to test-prep how it would hold. Reheated for dinner the next night, it was excellent with its fresh basil garnish and star-quality house made pecan-parm. 

Many meals are “Budda bowl” style, which I love, with lots of components.  

I love spicy and looked forward to the kimchi add-on for the Tamari Tofu Kimchi Bliss Bowl. This dish brought me back to my first real enjoyment of Thai food in the early 1990s while living in LA, having moved from the U.K. The peanut sauce at the goth-inspired restaurant named “TOI” (“Toy”) on Sunset Boulevard was so unforgettable (they’re still open today) and was the go-to Friday night hang out of my early breakaway years. Tuesday Foods’ perfect peanut sauce, with the addition of a fresh lime, perfectly set off the marinated tofu that had full flavor and offered a visceral reminder of TOI’s satay and Pad Thai!  This cinched it for me as #1 meal.  

The smoothies were very tasty for on-the-go, and Berry Energy Bomb or Killer Chiller Oats beat out the Cleo (a greens-based one), but generally, I’m too hungry or greedy, and they’re gone too quickly. I prefer to eat calories than drink them.  

The time surplus this service created in my day was huge, and that’s the point. Yummy menus and veggie diversity round out the reasoning. Somehow, the time credit accumulates with fewer grocery store visits. This service even at the lowest level is valuable. Whether you’re starting a health or wellness journey or say, having surgery, how convenient for the week? Their colorful menus on the website allows a stop-start approach to purchase, and I love sweets and would add “Treat” to my bag as I didn’t get to try the week’s Almond Butter Brownies.  

My new understanding of “food wealth” is not bottomless brunch, all you can eat lobster or private-chef party catering; it’s having healthful crudites freshly prepped along with dinner, waiting with a piquant dip in the fridge.