Big Ol' Buffet

The Chef: The Hungry Vegan

The Menu: Are you settled in? Make sure you're in a comfortable reading position because this is going to be a long one. Ready? Starting from the soup on the left and moving clockwise we have carrot vichyssoise; Indian cumin-scented coconut milk stew; broccoli with tofu; cannelini beans with sautéed kale; braised cabbage with red beans and rice; potatoes with herbs de Provence, lemon, and coarse salt; polenta with stewed peppers and tomatoes; and barley pilaf with mushrooms. Not pictured are the desserts: spiced apple and almond cake and pine nut anise crescents.

The Goods: If that all sounds like a mouthful, you should have seen the meal itself. The Hungry Vegan ships organic, ready-to-eat meals nationwide from its kitchen in South Carolina. Though shipping food across the country is not the most sustainable way to eat, The Hungry Vegan's website welcomes suggestions on how to improve its environmental standing and states that they only use all-natural, organic ingredients. The idea is that you can order a week's worth of food, and not have to worry about making dinner every night. So, we got to taste a collection of different entrées. As for the food itself, some of the dishes may have suffered the effects of their long journey, such as the broccoli, which fell a little flat, and the desserts having a fresh-from-the-fridge tinge. The lemony potatoes and creamy coconut milk stew, however, were favorites here at the VNHQ.