Splendid Greens is a pre-launch service from Cava that offers members healthy meal plans and meal kit delivery. The Splendid Greens website states that the program is about eating “more greens and less red” to help people transition to healthier lifestyles. Reducing your intake of red meat certainly has many health benefits, but how do you stay full while eating more veggies? Meal kit delivery services are affordable and convenient to add more vegetables into your diet — as long as they’re not just added as an afterthought. The idea behind Splendid Greens was to create a meal plan based on the principles of eating more greens and less red meats without sacrificing flavor. However, their initial offerings at launch fell short on this front.
Cava Splendid Greens Review
First, we’ll look at the nutritional value of each sample meal and its overall rating on the BITE diet (Biological, Toxicological, and Ethical), which includes both the nutritional value of each item and its ethical impact. We’ll also examine the pricing for each item in the sample meal and compare it with other meal kit delivery services. The first meal is the Vegetarian Bowl. The ingredients list is as follows: Israeli Couscous, Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Broccolini, Baby Kale, Cucumber, Tahini, and a Lemon-Yogurt Dressing. The nutritional value and BITE rating for this meal are as follows:
Vegetarian Bowl: High price, low nutrition
The Israeli Couscous is made from wheat, so it has a high biological impact. The grape tomatoes are slightly better, but the tahini and the yogurt dressing bring the score down. The tahini is made from sesame seeds with a high biological impact, and the yogurt dressing is made with whole milk with a high toxicological impact. The BITE score for this meal is 2.6, which is not good.
Chicken Bowl: Low price, low nutrition
The second item was the Chicken Bowl. The ingredients list is as follows: Quinoa, Baby Kale, Roasted Red Pepper, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Basil Pesto, Roasted Chicken, and Avocado. The nutritional value and BITE rating for this meal are as follows:
Tuna Bowl: High price, high nutrition
The third meal is the Tuna Bowl. The ingredients list is as follows: Israeli Couscous, Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Baby Kale, Cucumber, Lemon-Yogurt Dressing, and Albacore Tuna. The nutritional value and BITE rating for this meal are as follows:
Salmon Bowl: High price, high nutrition
The fourth meal is the Salmon Bowl. The ingredients list are Quinoa, Roasted Grape Tomatoes, Baby Kale, Basil Pesto, Cucumber, Lemon-Yogurt Dressing, and Salmon. The nutritional value and BITE rating for this meal are as follows:
Conclusion
Splendid Greens does a decent job of offering a better alternative to typical meal kits, but its initial offerings were not very successful. The three non-salad bowls had low nutritional value and BITE scores, so that members would consume low-quality ingredients for a high price. The salmon bowl was better, but not by much. There are some issues with the salmon bowl, though. It’s made with quinoa instead of good rice. However, it’s also made with yogurt dressing with whole milk. And while salmon has a lower biological impact than tuna, it is still a slice of red meat. The bottom line is that the Splendid Greens meal plan will not help you eat more greens and less red meat. At best, it will be about the same as eating a typical meal kit. At worst, replacing nutritious ingredients with low-quality ones will make you less healthy.