The best ideas are always the most simple – and we are absolutely loving national online delivery company Pow Food and its healthy take on freshly made ready meals, à la carte dining and feast boxes, backed up by 25 years of catering experience in London.

Muddy has personally tested out the à la carte dinner party (read our review and be wowed) and there’s no doubt about it – Pow Food is a total winner for women short on free time, allergic to stress and mess, but big on getting friends or family around.  If I was to sum up the elevator pitch for Pow Food’s à la carte offering it would be: ‘hello fresh meets top restaurant minus the hassle of actually cooking it’ – which, let’s be honest, is pretty compelling.

You order from a range of starters, mains and desserts, with options including the likes of beetroot gravlax served with an organic horseradish crème and sourdough crostini, Goan fish curry with salmon, cod and prawns and pear frangipani served with organic crème fraîche.  There are also more homely meals on offer too like cottage pie if that’s the direction you’d rather go. Everything is ordered online on a slick but easy-to-follow website, then delivered in advance. All you need to do is heat up for your party, serve it, and maybe pretend you’ve made it yourself.

Vegetarians and vegans are both well catered for on the menu, plus all dishes are both gluten and dairy free, and the meat and fish are responsibly sourced. On top of all that, the meals are expertly balanced thanks to the two nutritionists working in the company, and every dish is put together with your immune system, gut health and energy levels in mind (Pow stands for Power of Wellness, FYI).

If à la carte dining isn’t your bag, no problem. You can save yourself the midweek ‘what’s in the fridge?’ panic and stock up on the ready meals instead – built on the same healthy, hearty principles and also available to order online.

And just in case you feel the first pangs of guilt about getting Pow Food to do the hard work in the kitchen for you, know this: not only are you cooking waste free, but Pow Food donates 30p to City Harvest to help feed underprivileged children for every meal bought. Well, in that case, it’s the grass-fed British lamb cutlets with parsley pesto and a side of butter beans braised with Mediterranean vegetables and plum tomatoes for me, thanks.