The Company:
Popular opinion: purple carrots are way more fun than your average orange carrot. And Purple Carrot is just like the vegetable it’s named after: a fun vegan meal delivery service. Not only does the service promote eating plant-based meals for your health, but also for the environment and animal-welfare. Studies show that a plant-based diet can decrease chance of high blood pressure by 55%, reduced risk of heart disease by 32%, and decrease the risk of diabetes by 78%. On top of improving your own health, a plant-based diet also helps the environment. The next time you dig into a burger, think about how eating one less burger a week can save the equivalent of 320 miles in carbon emissions, and the 1850 gallons of water it takes to produce 1 pound of beef versus the 39 gallons for 1 pound of vegetables.
We know not everyone can put solar panels on their roofs, but eating a plant-based diet is one of the easiest ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Purple Carrot isn’t saying that we all need to be vegans, but is merely providing an easy alternative option to eating meat. I was able to try three Purple Carrot meals and two extras: Japanese Gnocchi, Chinese New Year Dumplings, Avocado Chickpea Burgers, Black Bean Burritos, and Everything Toasts.
Meals:
Japanese Gnocchi
Oh my god. This Japanese gnocchi got me good. Disclaimer: I LOVE gnocchi. Never in a million years would I have thought to combine the most Italian pasta of all pastas with Asian inspired flavors, but Purple Carrot did just that and it was amazing. The gnocchi was cooked with bok choy in a miso tomato butter sauce and served with lime wedges and nori spice. The gnocchi was chewy yet firm, the sauce was warming and flavorful, the bok choy was colorful and crisp, and the lime added that perfect kick of acidity.
Chinese New Year Dumplings
I’m not going to lie, when I saw that I was going to be making dumplings on a weeknight I was scared. I had images of filling all around the kitchen, flour everywhere, oil spattering across the stove, and sloppy half opened dumplings plus a huge mess to clean up after this escapade. But my vision was wrong! Purple Carrot made it super easy to make your own authentic dumplings in 40 minutes or less. The dumplings were filled with kale, walnut, and textured vegetable protein and were served with a chili garlic sauce (YUM) and steamed edamame. The texture inside the dumpling was crunchy, the outside of the dumpling was crispy from pan-frying, the chili garlic sauce added that sweet and hot deliciousness, and the edamame was a perfect, easy accompaniment.
Avocado Chickpea Burgers
I was super excited to try these because I love avocado and I love chickpeas. Why not smush them together? The flavors of this dish were terrific, but it definitely did not look like the pictures. The burgers were made of quinoa, avocado, chickpeas, panko breadcrumbs, chipotle pepper in adobo, and cilantro. The actual assembly of the burgers themselves called for a food processor which I did not have in hand, so I tried to form patties with my hands and failed miserably. But not to worry! Instead, I threw the quinoa, chickpea mixture over the chipotle mayo and green salad that was supposed to accompany the burgers and voila, it became an avocado, chickpea salad. The chipotle mayo provided a nice kick, the avocado was creamy, and the champagne vinegar provided a crisp acidity.
Black Bean Burritos
Who doesn’t love a good burrito? I know it’s tempting to run to Chipotle, but it’s so easy to make your own burrito, and Purple Carrot demonstrates that here. I filled the burritos with a rice and vegetable quinoa blend, black beans, avocado, and hot sauce mayo. Everything was wrapped up snuggly in the whole wheat tortillas in 10 minutes and I had lunch for four days. FYI that’s 2.5 minutes per meal.
Everything Toasts
We know we know, toasts are sooo basic. But they’re so good and so versatile, so let the haters hate. These toasts had a sourdough bread base and were topped with a scallion cashew cheese, arugula, cucumbers, pumpkin speeds, and everything bagel spice. This literally took 5 minutes to throw together, and was a filling lunch. The bread didn’t taste very sourdough-y to me, but it still toasted up well and I never would have known that the cheese spread was vegan. The cucumbers provided a crisp coolness and the pumpkin seeds added a great crunch. Move over, avocado toast.
Q&A:
I reached out to Purple Carrot to ask some questions about their company and Andy Levitt, the CEO and Founder, responded:
Allison Walter: What makes Purple Carrot different from other meal delivery services?
Andy Levitt: Purple Carrot is the first and only 100% plant-based meal kit, whose mission is to help people eat more plants with its unique, and inspiring plant-based recipes and ingredients shipped to subscribers every week.
AW: Does the company aim to source 100% organic produce? AL: We try to source organic when possible. Our sourcing team works closely with distribution partners and produce suppliers to ensure the freshest, highest quality products each week, including sourcing directly from local farmers. Additionally, we supply some of our ingredients from third party, local, plant-based companies as a way to support and empower other plant-based establishments.
AW: Is the company interested in expanding to desserts?
AL: In January, we introduced our customers to the new 5-minute breakfast and lunch options through Purple Carrot Extra’s. Interested customers can choose to add up to 3 breakfast or lunch add-ons to their weekly dinner subscription each week. We’ve actually heard that some of our customers have been using our new breakfast line for dessert, which is great. We love how creative our customers are! That said, we have no official plans to create a dessert line, however we do have a variety of dessert recipes available in our recipe archive found on purplecarrot.com.
AW: Who does Purple Carrot see as the face of their company? What is the typical Purple Carrot customer?
AL: After being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I was miserable and in a lot of pain. Medicine couldn’t cure me, so I decided to take a deeper look into the foods I was eating and came to understand that plants don’t just have the power to heal our bodies—they have the power to delight our taste buds and make a better world for future generations. That’s why I founded Purple Carrot, with the intention of helping other consumers discover how eating delicious plant-based meals – even if it’s just a couple times a week – can improve the overall quality of life. The average Purple Carrot customer is actually omnivorous (and “vegan curious” but not necessarily eating a completely plant-based diet). Over the last few years, more and more consumers are interested in incorporating plant-based eating into their diets and lifestyles, but don’t necessarily know how or want to go all in, and that’s why we’re here!
Overall:
Purple Carrot provides delicious, healthy meals that help people feel good, and help the environment feel good. The estimated times to make the recipe were accurate, and the instructions were clear. Most meals took 30 minutes to make, so it was not the fastest dinner ever, but it was the worth the extra time for me to make a gourmet meal that I would never create on my own. In addition, the extras I received took 5 minutes to throw together and could easily be eaten for dinner so that is a quick fix for a fast dinner. Even if you don’t end up using Purple Carrot, next time you reach for that burger or steak, think about a purple carrot and how your simple decision to order the beet salad instead of the meat can help the environment.