I am one of those people who as soon as they’ve finished one meal they’re planning the next. I love food. I love eating food, I love thinking about food, I love everything about FOOD! However, I’ve always been a bit ‘meh’ about lunch, it’s my least favourite meal of the day. Breakfast…. amazing, my fave, love it. Dinner… yep awesome, so much choice, great end to the foodie day. Lunch… well, it’s just so bland isn’t it? Jeez, it’s almost an inconvenience, splitting up your day like that and using up precious working hours, especially with all this working from home malarkey and home school juggle (although thank goodness that at least has now ended for the summer!). So it’s usually a boring sarnie or occasionally I might treat myself to some scrambled egg on toast, for those days when I feel like living life on the edge, ya know? 😉
Lunch for me needs to be quick, relatively tasty and filling enough to stop me raiding the biscuit tin when I have my post lunch cup of coffee. These plantbased pouches from Fiid might just be what I’m after.
OK, so I’m not vegan. I’m not even veggie, which means you might be wondering how these plantbased lunches will be capable of tickling my tastebuds. But the thing is, just ‘cos a person eats meat doesn’t mean they want it with every meal. Nope, I love a veg based meal and I’d probs eat more if my family were up for it – honestly they can sniff anything remotely plant based out like a bloodhound doing a drugs raid.
There are currently three different flavours in the Fiid range:
- Italian Sundried Tomato & Lentil Ragu
- Smoky Mexican Black Bean Chilli
- Hearty Moroccan Chickpea Tagine
So let’s check them out and see what’s what…
Fiid Italian Sundried Tomato & Lentil Ragu
If you love a bolognaise then you are gonna love this. Big chunks of veg (carrots, mushrooms, celery, onion, tomatoes), lots of fill you up lentils, and a delicious thick rich sauce; this is a lunch jam packed with flavour. From a meat eater’s point of view, the hearty texture is great, as I totally didn’t miss the absence of meat. I tarted mine up with some homegrown purple basil leaves because well, Instapics right?
Great on it’s own if you really do need a speedy lunch, but I reckon pop it on top of some pasta and you’ve got a vegan bolognaise for your dinner right there!
Fiid Smoky Mexican Black Bean Chilli
I blinkin’ loves me a chilli and this did not disappoint. The beans again are enough to replace the meat and I loved the smokiness of it. Personally I probs would have liked it ever so slightly spicier as it is quite mild, but there’s nothing stopping you adding some chilli powder or flakes to get the heat right for you. I also crumbled up some feta that I had leftover in the fridge on top of mine because I just can’t resist cheese on my chilli and if I’d had any in the house I totally would have toasted up some sourdough to go with it too.
Fiid Hearty Moroccan Chickpea Tagine
I’ve gotta I admit was looking forward to this one the least out of the trio, for no other reason than that Moroccan food just doesn’t usually do it for me as much as other types of food, but I’ve got to say this was absolutely delicious and it actually ended up being my favourite out of all of them!
Slightly more soup-like in consistency than the other two, but still packed with lots of chickpeas, lentils and chunky veg. The sauce was lovely and smooth and had a really nice sweetness to it. I wish I’d had some flatbreads to mop it up with at the end, as that would’ve gone down a treat!
I love that these pouches are so versatile, in that you can have them on their own for lunch or you can style them out to make more of a meal. I honestly reckon you could get a few packets of these and serve them as a main meal by bunging some herbs on top and serving on top of some pasta, rice or couscous. As well as being suitable for vegans, they are also gluten and dairy free, low in calories, contain 3 of your 5 a day, are fat free, low sugar, high in fibre, and high in protein. Plus, let’s not forget they’re quick and all kinds of tasty too!
You can buy these meals from the Fiid website where they offer various different meal plans, kind of like a subscription service, or check their stockists list as they are also sold at certain health food shops and even in some supermarkets. Priced at just under £4 a pouch, they’re arguably not the cheapest but considering all the factors I’ve mentioned above I’d say it’s worth it.
*products gifted for review
