Radish Kosher Catering

I don't keep kosher.  And yet, I somehow do end up eating a fair number of kosher meals, like those from Catering by Andrew in the Boston area, or Fresko throughout New England (they seem to dominate the market, found on most flights catered out of east coast airports, in all hospitals, in retail stores, etc).  

Radish is another kosher caterer that provides meals to hospitals, cafes, schools, etc.  They are based in NY and have all the certifications that matter to those who do keep kosher.  All meals are individually wrapped and double sealed. They offer fresh meals for grab-n-go such as salads, sandwiches, wraps, cut fruit, yogurt cups, and pastries, along with fresh or frozen TV dinner style meals.  They also offer kids and senior meals.  

I've tried a few of their different offerings, and found them mostly lower end of average.  Perhaps an ok option if you are traveling and need a kosher meal, but otherwise I wouldn't recommend.

Entrees

The entrees I tried all reminded me of frozen "tv dinners", although they were delivered refrigerated (I'm not sure if previously frozen). I think the packaging is what gave those strong vibes, with the individual sections of the plastic trays.  I picked up a trio of dishes, two to share with my mom, and one for my dad, but I tried most components.

Almond Encrusted Trout
w/ Orzo & Baby Carrots.

First up, a dish I'd order from a restaurant with no problem, almond crusted trout.  I was drawn to it for the trout, not the sides though.

It was ... ok.  The portion was fine, there were two thin pieces of fish, skin-on.  Fairly average trout, a bit fishy, as trout is.  It was very mildly seasoned.  The "encrusted" description let me down, as what that seemed to mean is that there were slivered almonds in the container to put on top, but it wasn't really crusted.  I had expected more of a breading/crust and perhaps smaller bits of nuts.  The almonds were fine, but a bit over-toasted and dark.  There were tons of them, below the trout was basically just all nuts.  The dish really seemed like it was missing a critical sauce to really liven it up and tie things together.  A lemon beurre blanc, a cream sauce, anything really.  Very low *** as there was nothing wrong with it, but it wasn't very enjoyable or interesting.

I didn't try the roast baby carrots, but my father had them, and said they were undercooked, but otherwise fine.  I took a bite of the orzo and handed that off to my mom, who said it was very bland and entirely plain.  It had a few tiny bits of veggies, and no seasoning nor sauce.  Again, the dish just seemed like it was missing sauce (my mom quickly added a sage lemon butter sauce to everything and greatly enjoyed it that way).

Would not get again.

Blackened Tilapia
w/ rice & zucchini.

Next up, blackened tilapia.  I was drawn to it because back when I was in grad school, and living on very limited funds, when I got taken out to dinner a few times I went to Ruby Tuesday (which would have been a huge splurge and way outside my means), and I got the blackened tilapia.  It is literally the only other time in my life I've had tilapia (besides once during the pandemic when my parents and I ordered frozen meals from Top Chef Meals), and it felt nostalgic to me.  Again I wasn't interested in the sides.

The tilapia was really well coated in blackening spices.  The seasoning was very flavorful, and really made it quite flavorful and enjoyable as-is (even though I had a cajun remoulade on standby, I didn't really need it).  The fish was moist, and very mild otherwise, just not a flavorful fish in any way, but not offensive either.  Pretty ho-hum average tilapia, but great seasoning.  ***+.

I didn't try the zucchini nor the rice with a few bits of veggies in it, but my mother said the rice was fine but bland.  She threw out the zucchini after a single bite.  Their sides really seem to be a weakness.

The fish was a fairly small portion given how thin it was.  Overall, it seemed like a very small meal, just give the thin nature of the fish, the single piece of fish, and the fairly small non substantial sides.  More of a lunch than dinner portion, unless you added perhaps a side salad and bread.  I'd consider getting it again if I was craving blackened fish.

Vegetable Rollatini (parve).

And finally, a non-seafood option.  This one I picked out for my dad, but of course I tried it first.

What was this exactly?  It looked a lot like lasagna roll ups, and did indeed have lasagna noodles and marinara sauce.  And it was vegetarian.  But it was also parve (and thus vegan) and didn't have any cheesy component, which is pretty essential in my mind for lasagna-adjacent dishes.  Instead the filling was a mix of egg and matzo ball mix, with bits of vegetables: onions, squash, carrots, bell pepper.

It was ... awful?  The pasta was basic.  The sauce was ... overly herby, acidic, and just not very good.  The filling was however what took it from "not good" to "awful".  Inside was just mush.  I certainly couldn't distinguish any vegetables.  The matzo ball mix is what it seemed to mostly be made from, but, in mush form.

Even cheese wouldn't have helped this in my mind.  None of us wanted this.  *.

Sides

I also got some extra sides to round out our meal.

Dirty Mashed Potatoes.

I'm not exactly sure what "dirty" mashed potatoes are, and the label did not included any ingredients, it just said "dirty mashed potatoes".

I'm still not entirely sure what the dirty part was, but they were good mashed potatoes.  Clearly made with real potatoes, not instant.  Good texture, no lumps, not gloopy.  Quite flavorful, I think there was garlic along with good seasoning (salt and pepper) and herbs.  Far better than I expected.  ***+.  

Pasta Salad.

My parents love pasta salad, so this was for them (I like it too, but, the mayo heavy kind, which this was not).

This was the sort of pasta salad that you find at a potluck, brought by someone who absolutely does not cook, and signed up too late to grab the coveted easy chips & dip, cheese & crackers, or fresh fruit slot.  Was it bad?  Well, no, but if I purchased it at a deli, cafe, or even grocery store as a pre-made item, I'd be pretty disappointed.  

It was a zero skill dish.  Think: cook pasta moderately well (not super mushy, but not al dente), add some Italian vinaigrette from a bottle, and chop of a few bits of red bell pepper to "make it pop".  And that's what we had here.  As I said, zero skill dish.  It tasted as generic as can be.  It honestly could have been one of those Suddenly Salad mixs.

As I don't care for Italian vinaigrette, this was a big miss for me (when I ordered, I was hoping "pasta salad" would be more like macaroni salad, or at least mayo based).  *+.