Last week I received a package at my doorstep that I wasn't expecting. (I don't know about you, but when you have a "guard dog", you tend to know the times and days your packages will arrive so you can try and temper your psycho pup.)
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| Well, hello there purrrrty thang! |
When I opened the door I saw a
BIG box from
Daily Harvest -
WHOOO HOOO! Literally though,
can you see in the picture above that it's about the size of our doormat?! It seemed to be about twice the size of the normal boxes that are delivered, so I thought it might be chocked full of goodies... I mean, don't get me wrong, any type of surprise deliveries are welcomed in my book, but I was a little shocked when inside the box were six skinny
flatbread boxes. Again, hear me out on this - I was
STOKED to be able to try the
new flatbread, but the box seemed outrageously large for the contents.
As with
the previous delivery, this one came at the perfect time. Due to COVID19, the hubby and I have been trying to only go to the grocery store every 2-3 weeks, and only when absolutely necessary. Well, as you can see from the picture below, we were very much at that point... The only thing in the freezer were the flatbreads (and some liquor) and all that was left in the fridge besides condiments were cheeses (
vegan for me, dairy for him) and some
"chik'n" strips.
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| PS The tupperware of pumpkin is to put on the pup's breakfast ;) |
When
Daily Harvest announced their new line of
flatbreads I was crossing my fingers I'd be lucky enough to give them a try in the near future. Just like the rest of their products, the flatbreads are made of real, whole ingredients from crust to sauce to toppings. All three flavors {
Kale + Coriander,
Tomato + Cremini and
Artichoke + Spinach} are also plant-based.
With my mouth watering and stomach growling, it was time to give the flatbreads a taste. But first, let's talk about how we would be divvying up the delivery (Yes, I was kind enough to share with the hubby! I mean, you saw how low we were on food, I sort of had to ;)). Each of them has a different "crust". The
Kale + Coriander is made of sweet potato, the
Tomato + Cremini is made of cauliflower and the
Artichoke + Spinach is made of broccoli. Since sweet potato is not my jam (but it is my hubby's), he got that flavor all to himself ;) He doesn't love mushrooms, which meant that the cremini option was all for me (
#SCORE!). And since we both enjoy the flavor profile of the "green" flatbread, each of us got one of those.
The first evening the hubby tried "his" and I tried "mine". I didn't read the instructions completely (I saw the temperature and time, but that's about all I figured I needed) and put them on a cookie sheet. While
the website says this is an okay way to bake them, the box said to put them directly on the oven rack {more on that later}... Oops. I was able to use some of the remaining contents of our refrigerator to "jazz up" the flatbreads a bit - adding chik'n and each of our "cheeses".
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| Hubby's, with the "real cheese", on the left and mine, with the vegan "cheese" on the right. |
They looked yummy, but we all know the taste is what's most important, so after we let them cool for a few minutes (the package said 1-2 minutes to allow them to crisp up a bit more) we dove right in. (Oh yeah, before I forget, let me mention that the hubby added Sriracha on top of his and I added a generous sprinkling of
Trader Joe's Umami Seasoning.)
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| A quick photo before we added our "seasoning" so you could see the actual product ;) |
I would say (which you will notice to be a theme in this post) that the flavors were yummy (although the hubby would say they are "a bit bland for my taste") but the execution was a tad off. We left our flatbreads in the oven for 20 minutes and although the hubby's was a bit crisper than mine, they were both pretty soft in the center. It sort of seemed like because of the veggies, when they baked some of the liquid came out and made the base soggy. It wasn't terrible to eat (even though I can have a big thing with textures), but it definitely wasn't what I expected. But, to be fair, the box told us to put them on the center rack in the 450* oven and I had put them on a cookie sheet, so the fault absolutely could have been mine.
The next flatbread on deck was the
Artichoke + Spinach. This go around I tried it
ON THE CENTER RACK of the oven. I was hoping that this would fix the "less than crispy" outcome of the crust. Well, like the first round of flatbreads, the flavor was on point (it tastes like a Roasted Artichoke White Pie) but the crunch still just wasn't there (especially in the center).
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| They definitely don't skimp on the "toppings"... |
For the final attempt, we tried using our pizza stone to cook the flatbreads on. We were both a little extra hungry on the last night, so we decided the hubby would get "his", I would get "mine" and we would split the third one. (Each flatbread contains two servings, and each serving is between 160 and 200 calories - before adding any extra toppings, of course.)
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| I went "au natural" on mine, but the hubby still added "real cheese" and chik'n strips to his. |
As with the first go around, the
Kale + Coriander flatbread did turn out a little crispier. The center was still a little droopy (you wouldn't have been able to lift it up without supporting the middle), but a tad better than on the cookie sheet. The
Tomato + Cremini one was still just as mushy - maybe even more so. In fact, it stuck to the pizza stone and I had a heck of a time trying to get it off without losing all of the toppings or burning myself... Again, I realize this was
NOT the way the instructions told us to bake the flatbreads, but we were trying something (and apparently it failed).
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| His and Hers |
I was hoping when I put the third one on the pizza stone it'd bake the best, but alas it was similar to the other attempts.
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| Tasty but not the crunch we were hoping it'd have. |
I do want to mention, the boxes say you should bake them for 18-22 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. The website appears to be updated and now says
20-25 minutes or until the edges are a
deep golden brown. I'm wondering if other folks ran into the floppy flatbread situation and they have since adjusted the cooking time. I also reached out to a few friends who tried the product and they either cooked the breads for longer or at a higher temperature to crisp them up.
Since you know I always gotta #KeepItReal, I wanted to tell it like it is - these taste yummy, but weren't the texture I was wanting or expecting (even with the fact that the crust is a veggie base, I still wanted them to be crisper than they turned out). They retail for $8.99 a piece and although I think the price point seems right for the quality of ingredients, I don't think I would order them if I was paying for them myself (at least not until I knew I could perfect the baking of them).
As always, just because something is not for me, doesn't mean it isn't for you (and the opposite is just as true - just because something is for me, doesn't mean it is for you). With that said, if you are interested in trying the
Daily Harvest Flatbreads (or other
Daily Harvest products), you can use code "
CARLEEMCDOT" to save $25 on your first order. {#RealTalk - I do make a couple bucks every time someone uses my code, but hopefully by now you know I ONLY recommend things I really love, so you better believe I'm not just sharing this "for the money" ;)}
Which flavor sounds the yummiest to you?
