Latest news with #MollyHiggins
WIRED
29-05-2025
- Business
- WIRED
The Best Vegan Meal Delivery Services and Kits
Photograph: Molly Higgins Photograph: Molly Higgins WIRED TIRED Fresh produce. Easy to no prep or cook time. Complex flavors. Great textures. Gluten-free. Limited availability in the US. Maybe too adventurous for some. Mostly salads. Thistle (8/10 WIRED recommends) is the best healthy, single-serving (mostly) premade meal kit I tested. With the most laborious meals requiring just a flash in a hot pan to enhance flavor, these refrigerated meals are mostly a mix of gluten-free, fruit-focused breakfasts; inventive, fresh salads; and preprepared bean- and pasta-forward veggie dinners. The Mexican-inspired corn and poblano pepper salad was solid and hearty; the lemongrass shirataki bowl—a cold noodle salad dish—hit all the right elements of savory-spice and varied texture. Thistle's vegan take on cheesecake with tres leches-esque coconut vanilla mousse and tahini caramel was perhaps the best vegan dessert I've ever had. Without a discount, this plan is a bit above my price point, but it remains one of my favorite vegan meal kit services I've tested. Is the brand completely vegan? Yes, with an optional add-on for sustainable meats for certain dinners and lunches at an additional $3 per meal. Availability: East and West Coast cities and Chicago (you can enter your zip code to see if your area is covered). Plan details: Thistle has a new, curated preset menu each week, consisting of three meals, a snack, and a dessert for six days of the week, but you can make edits based on your preferences. Delivery is one or two times per week, depending on your plan. Cost: At the time of writing, breakfasts start at $13, lunches and dinners at $17, and snacks at $8. You must order a minimum of three meals per week. Prices decrease the more you order. Photograph: Molly Higgins Photograph: Molly Higgins WIRED TIRED AI-powered menu curation. Many choices of familiar flavors and foods. Good for people transitioning or new to a vegan diet. Also offers grocery options. Difficult to view meal options before committing. Flavors could be one-note. WIRED reviewer Matthew Korfhage liked Hungryroot's AI tool that micro-customizes menus for dietary restrictions or preferences (7/10, WIRED recommends), which also makes this a great meal kit for vegans. It didn't have the adventurous element of Purple Carrot or the plant-centric freshness of Thistle, but Hungryroot would be great for those with kids who need more tame options, or for people who want familiar choices, like those easing into a plant-based diet. However, with its AI-assisted customization options, you can easily curate it to your tastes. Nearly all the meals I prepared were solid but one-note, needing an extra element to add complexity—acid from a squeeze of lemon, or red chili flakes for heat improved many of these dishes. Throughout my week of testing, meal kits required little prep and only took about half an hour or less to make. They were varied but basic, with a lemongrass tofu and broccoli stir-fry, cauliflower tacos, and American fare like a veggie burger with sweet potato fries and a bunless Beyond burger and guac. Is the brand completely vegan? No, you'll need to use filters and look for icons to find vegan choices, and AI customization curates future meals based on preferences. Availability: Delivers to the lower 48 US states. Plan details: Delivers every day of the week, and you can make changes or skip until Monday or Thursday at 7 pm before your next delivery, depending on your delivery date. The smallest plan is two or three two-serving dinners; after, plans vary depending on how many additional breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and sweets you choose per week. Cost: At the time of writing, dinners will cost you $13 a serving, lunch costs $12, and breakfast is $5. The number of meals you choose turns into 'points,' where the sum is different for every dish (for example, one dinner plate is 12 points, snacks vary as a couple points apiece). Any remaining points can be used the next week. Like many meal kit plans, the company offers heavy discounts for first-time users, like 30 percent off your first week and a free food item.
WIRED
02-05-2025
- General
- WIRED
The Best Chef's Knives to Chop Anything in the Kitchen
This knife is a work of art. I loved using it, but just looking at it—she's purty. The knife is hand-hammered, creating a rippled finish that is not only beautiful but also helps reduce drag while cutting and promotes less food sticking to the blade. Shun claims each knife is crafted in a 100-step process 'inspired by ancient swordsmiths,' and the blades are crafted in Seki, Japan's 700-year-old center for samurai swords. The blade's steel core has 34 layers of micro-thin, high-carbon Damascus stainless steel on each side for increased stability and durability (with 68 total layers), and a 16-degree blade angle. The resin-infused blonde birch handle is not only beautiful, but has an ergonomic design that is comfortable to hold. This knife is lightweight, a bit short, and easy to use. I love using it for smaller, more precise tasks, although it did stand up pretty well when cutting more dense root vegetables. I minced and diced super quickly with this li'l guy, but food chunks tended to stick to the sides of the blade. Blade Material Micro-thin, high-carbon Damascus stainless steel Made in Japan Blade length 6 inches Total length 12 inches Edge 16 deg. angle Blade hardness heat-treated to 60-61 HRC Total weight 0.3 lbs Photograph: Molly Higgins This sleek Hast knife is made of Japanese carbon steel (see above for more about carbon materials) from renowned steel maker Koike. It overall feels lightweight and svelte. The ergonomic handle was very easy to grip, although it got a bit slippery (and potentially dangerous) when wet. It felt superlight, but overall didn't feel as heavy-duty, and flip-flopped a bit while cutting more dense foods like potatoes. It was able to make supersmooth cuts on softer foods, and I felt able to control it easily while mincing garlic. The ultrathin blade made of Japanese carbon steel won't get discolored as easily as others, but the lack of information regarding the hardness of its blade gives me pause as to its performance in the long term. After much searching, I found that the knife was made in China. Still, this is a remarkably affordable option for a Japanese carbon steel chef's knife that excels in making more precise cuts. Blade Material Japanese carbon steel Made in China Blade length 8 inches Total length 13.62 inches Edge 12 deg. angle Blade hardness Not specified Total weight 0.39 lbs
CBS News
24-04-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
LA Rams get ready to host 2025 NFL Draft at fire station honoring first responders from wildfires
The Los Angeles Rams know football fans from around the world will be tuning in to see the NFL draft Thursday night, so they've temporarily moved into one of LA's fire stations in Van Nuys to shine a spotlight on the first responders who fought the wildfires earlier this year. Most people don't get to see the LA Fire Department's air operations, because firefighters are constantly moving aircraft in and out responding to emergency calls and taking part in training exercises. GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 23: A general view of the Los Angeles Rams logo prior to the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field on April 23, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Getty Images But on Draft night, football fans will get to see the inside of this hangar because it is where the Rams will be making their draft picks. "It's a big undertaking to pick up a draft and move it to a location that's fairly remote and much different than what we're used to," said Molly Higgins, Rams executive vice president of community impact. Rams' executives thought holding the Draft at the fire station would be a way to honor the firefighters who battled the wildfires in January and to remind football fans that LA's recovery is just beginning. "I want them to realize that the Rams are more than just a football team, we are Los Angeles," Higgins said. For the past few weeks, the fire department has been working with the Rams to make sure the Draft wouldn't interfere with their emergency duties. "It was really obviously important to the fire department to ensure we maintain operational readiness, that we respond with the same amount of time and urgency that we would for any 911 call," said LAFD Capt. Erik Scott. As a "thank you," the Rams have made some behind-the-scenes improvements to the hangar, refurbishing the recreation room where pilots and firefighters rest between shifts and adding special Rams gear and mementos. Some of the custom art made by the Rams wasn't just created to look good for the Draft. It will be auctioned after, to raise money for the Fire Department Foundation. Special merchandise celebrating the Rams and the LAFD partnership will also be sold online to benefit the foundation and the American Red Cross. Firefighters hope the Draft will bring a little joy and hope to those most affected by the fires. "Just keeping this top of mind and reminding people that this is going to be a long recovery, but the Rams are going to be here to support you throughout this process," Higgins said.
WIRED
13-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- WIRED
Thistle's Premade Vegan Meals Are Surprisingly Tasty for Being So 'Crunchy'
My favorite meals focused on multiple textures and various ingredients to make a truly dynamic salad-type dish. The Corn and Poblano Chile Salad With Adobo Pinto Beans was a solid, Mexican-inspired meal that was the perfect lunch to eat on the first warm spring day of the year. Roasted poblano peppers, sweet corn, cabbage, brown rice, and pinto beans worked well together with the mild spinach backdrop and a roasted jalapeno vegan ranch dressing that I could've drank straight from the ramekin. I still dream of the Lemongrass Shirataki Bowl, a cold noodle salad dish that hit all the right elements of savory-spice and varied texture. The chilled rice noodles came with a lightly spicy marinated mince of sautéed vegetables and pea protein crumbles. The crisp cucumber, spinach, ginger, lemongrass, and peanuts added a crunchy texture, but the yummy salty, slightly tangy housemade vegan 'fish' sauce truly brought this all together. This sauce used dynamic ingredients like coconut aminos, date syrup, rice vinegar, lime juice, tahini, mushrooms, and seaweed to get that same great super-umami flavor of fish sauce but without the suffering. Sigh, I wish I could eat it again. Photograph: Molly Higgins I'm not a breakfast person, so Thistle's small, fruit-forward choices were perfect for me. A dense, dry polenta almond cake was saved by a bright, sweet raspberry chia jam. A smoothie bowl with blackberry and hibiscus topped with crunchy coconut granola was the perfect start to my day. The Super Seed & Berry Muesli overnight oat dish had good texture variety, and its bright-blue coconut and vanilla spirulina 'mylk' was a fun addition, although I wish it had a little more fruit to add a fresh element. The heated dinner meals were good but didn't feel as complex as the hearty salads. A chimichurri sauce was the stand-out on an otherwise one-note pasta dish with beans, artichoke, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. A Latin-inspired black bean, spinach, rice, and plantain dish needed more acid or spice to liven it up. Other snacks, like a charcuterie-type plate, fell a little flat with veggies that were beginning to dry out and a funky vegan cheese with a grainy texture. (Later that night though, I had Thistle's vegan take on cheesecake with a tahini tres leches mousse that was perhaps the best vegan dessert I've ever had, so all was—pretty much—forgiven.) Nothing Is Perfect Besides the high price point—except for right now with 40 percent off (seriously, if you've been curious about this meal kit, I'd recommend you try while it's heavily discounted)—I don't have many gripes with Thistle. When you sign up for a plan, you receive texts with updates on your delivery and they notify you when the delivery has been dropped off. I got the text notification that it was dropped off Sunday night, but when I checked nothing was delivered. The next day, I found out the delivery person ended up dropping it off at my neighbor's instead. I had to wait a whole week, until the next Sunday, to get another delivery. It was a bummer because I had to last-minute grocery shop for the week ahead on a busy Sunday night, which I hadn't budgeted for—time- or moneywise. In the future, I may opt to meet the delivery person face-to-face so I can guarantee I'll be fed that week.
WIRED
21-03-2025
- General
- WIRED
Hungryroot Is Maybe the AI-Guided Meal Plan of the Future. The Present Is Much More Familiar
My colleague Molly Higgins, who is vegan, simultaneously tested out her own very different goals and preferences on Hungryroot. These involved no chicken at all. Ostensibly, when you sign up, a Hungryroot dinner will cost you $13 a serving, while lunch costs $12 and breakfast is a mere $4.50. But in practice, the number of meals you choose translates to a weekly supply of 'points' whose sum may be different for each dish. And so while one dinner plate is 11 points, another might be 12. Snacks might cost just a couple points apiece. And if you don't use all your points this week, next week is for ribeye. Easy, Breezy, Chicken-Caesary In any case, when I told Hungryroot's questionnaire that I wanted my meal kit to help me save time, the algorithm listened. Among five recipes and some prepackaged breakfast items, only one meal took more than 15 minutes to prepare. Most plates were as much assembly as actual cooking. One lunchtime meal's only prep involved slicing sous vide chicken breast atop a Caesar salad mix. An avocado chicken rice bowl mostly involved composing a few ingredients, after a few minutes heating a rice pouch and pan-searing some precooked 'chile limon' chicken breast. Add to this a pleasant Southwestern-style black bean and corn salad, plus a squirt of avocado crema, and voilà: a casual West Hollywood lunch. Photograph: Matthew Korfhage The only dish that took significantly longer to cook than to eat was a pair of stuffed red bell peppers—which featured a better-than-expected enchilada sauce, courtesy of new-school Mexican-American brand Saucy Lips. Here, too, the chicken came pulled, precooked, and preseasoned, and the rice again arrived in pouch form. My own cooking mostly involved heating peppers in a toaster oven, barely more effort than heating frozen lasagna. Indeed, my week of Hungryroot sometimes felt less like cooking than a week spent grazing in the prepared food section of an upscale grocery store, or one of the nicer fast-casual food courts—the kind that has Sweetgreen and Baja Fresh instead of Wendy's and Chipotle. Custom Concern That said, among my recipes, ease of cooking came at the expense of fresh produce. My box contained just two red bell peppers and an orange. When I mentioned this to my vegan co-tester, Molly, her response was quizzical. She didn't have this problem at all. Her meals were full of veggies. My own survey responses had accidentally convinced Hungryroot's algorithm that I'd rather not cook. 'All of the meals had fresh produce, took half an hour or less, most were under 500 calories, and those that weren't were high protein (plant-based protein, of course),' Molly wrote. Some meals mixed vegan proteins and vegetable sides. Others included veggie-filled stir frys and a plant-based taco plate made with chipotle-spiced, charred cauliflower. While I was gently warming a premixed black bean salad, Molly was out there charring brussels sprouts.
