their innovative vessel

When my husband lived in Austin he became a big fan of avocado margaritas. They aren't quite as popular up here in Baltimore but luckily they are easy to make at home. All you need is a few ingredients and a powerful blender. We like them spicy so we soaked a jalapeno in the tequila first which added a gentle kick. Baltimore-based Terra's Kitchen just started expanding their meal-kit delivery service to the DC/Nova/Richmond area in March. Previously, they were only available on the West Coast mask house. They asked if I'd be interested in trying them out and developing a cocktail to accompany the meals. An avocado margarita seemed like the perfect pairing for any other three meals I was sent: Grilled Chicken Tacos with Avocado Goat Cheese Sauce, Southwestern Steak + Sweet Potato Bowl, Honey Mango Glazed Salmon + Blueberry Citrus Rice. Of course, I make a lot of our meals from scratch but with Matt back in school for yet another degree tourism website, we've been looking for short cuts. I've used another meal-in-a-box company before and it was okay but I was intrigued by Terra's Kitchen's promise of meals in 30 minutes, locally sourced foods, prepped ingredients, whole ingredients and their innovative vessel. The vessel is basically a large, rather heavy cooler with shelves and reusable ice packs. The food comes in recyclable bins but the vessel and ice packs can be used up to 100 times. It comes with a free Fed Ex return label ageLOC Me. All you have to do it put it outside the next day (or Monday if your delivery is on a Friday) and it gets picked up and returned to Terra's Kitchen to be sent out again. So much less waste than other meal-kit options. It kept the food super cool as well. In the box were also the recipes developed by chef and cookbook author Libbie Summers; wine and beer pairings; and cards talking about the inspiration behind the recipe and a little card that had trivia and facts about the ingredients. A cute idea and a conversation starter.