Ahi Tuna Au Poivre with Warm Artichoke-Farro Salad

I have been eyeing Chef'd for quite a while.

I had heard rave reviews of Chef'd in recent months and I really like the idea that Chef'd is not a subscription based service.

You can pick from a plethora of meal options rather than from a list of 4-6 options like the other subscription companies I have tried so far.

One downside of Chef'd is their meals are pretty expensive with most meals running about 30 dollars (give or take).  I decided I would pick two recipes that included what I dub, "fancy ingredients".

The first recipe I made is the Ahi Tuna Au Poivre with Warm Artichoke-Farro Salad designed by chef Robert Irvine who you may know from the shows Dinner: Impossible and Worst Cooks in America -shown on Food Network.

The two ingredients that attracted me to this recipe were the Ahi Tuna and the farro.

Neither of us has ever tried farro before and with all the recent hype over the past few years about the health benefits of this ancient grain I figured I would give this recipe a go.

My initial impression of the Chef'd box is that there is a TON of plastic! I feel that the packaging for Blue Apron and Marley Spoon were more eco-friendly (if you can even say that about these food delivery services).

Look at all of this packaging material:

The final pile of plastic bags (seen above) is just a portion of the packaging utilized by this one recipe alone.

Review of the final product:

1) This is a unique dish (au poivre prepared foods are usually associated with steak) which has a incredible combination of savory spices (coriander, mustard, cumin, fennel, ground peppercorns, thyme) and sweetness (from the shallots, lemon juice, oranges, and balsamic glaze).

2) Chef'd is very expensive as noted above- I think I will lean towards purchasing Chef'd dishes when I am looking to make a more "sophisticated" dinner.  I think that utilizing Chef'd for a small dinner party would surely make quite the impression with guests.

3) This dish was a pleasure to make as I found it simple yet, more technically challenging because I have never cooked Ahi Tuna steaks which were more delicate when handled than I anticipated.

4) I am less than impressed with the freshness of the chives.  The chives have seen better and brighter days.  More than half of the chives in the package were brown and mushy.

5) The farro that I was so excited to consume was very good! When combined with the roasted potatoes and salad I can truly say it was divine. I can see why so many people consider it the new "fad grain" like quinoa or sprouted grains.

6) Besides tasting phenomenal, the final plated dish seriously looks fantastic.

I mean...look at it!