The Blue Apron Experiment continues. Some of you may remember that I recently tried one of the very popular home meal prep delivery services. There are so many to choose from, it’s hard to know what to expect, and whether it’s ultimately worth the price, right? Well, consider me your guinea pig. I dove in and tried Blue Apron, and waited for the ease of use and delicious ingredients to pour in.
OK, so I didn’t exactly dive in. As my first post clearly showed, even I found a way to make seemingly easy and convenient meals too hard to try. We all have those days, and mine happened to occur within 24 hours of receiving my first box of goodies. There. I said it.
But when I did start planning to use, and then actually making the recipes provided, I had a couple successes. The first was the Cauliflower Cheesesteak Sandwich. I admit that I would have never thought to use cauliflower as a meat substitute in this classic sandwich, but it turned out really good. So good I’m holding onto that recipe card for future use.
Next up on the rotation was the Hominy & Poblano Pepper Pozole. I love a good, hearty soup, especially one that is so inherently healthy with the veggies and rich flavors. And in I went…
The ingredients, as with all of their box deliveries, were portioned out exactly and individually packaged. This is one of the things I’m not thrilled about (I’ve mentioned it previously), as that adds up to a lot of recycled waste. But I get that from a health and shipping perspective, it’s the best option. The ingredients themselves were pretty fresh, and I’d followed the instructions clearly to get stuff out of the box and into the refrigerator or other proper storage as soon as possible. Also, it’s suggested to use the ingredients and make the recipes within the week that you receive the box, which is for obvious freshness reasons. Check.
The weather had been crappy (which seems to be the theme here in Texas lately), and so I was psyched to get this hearty soup on the stove. Nothing warms you up like a piping hot bowl of healthy and tasty goodness, right?
I got the ingredients prepped, which I have to tell you is a good rule of thumb for pretty much any recipe. And especially for something that you’re following a recipe for, which of course this was. Have I mentioned that I have a hard time following instructions? That meant this was a challenge for me to really focus and do what the recipe card said to do.
I mean, just look at those beautiful ingredients! They just scream SPRING IS HERE! Greens and yellows just yelling out how healthy they are for me!
First up in any good stew or soup is getting the base prepared. That base, or mirepoix (which is a french word indicating a base of aromatic vegetables used to give dishes depth and richness), made the kitchen smell incredible from the moment the ingredients hit the hot oil.
It only took about 6 minutes to get the vegetables to soften and cook through. From there, it was time to really get my stew on. The other ingredients went into the pot, along with some water (as indicted by the recipe card) and got together to not only smell great, but make me want to stick my face in the pot. Which I didn’t. ‘Cause that would have hurt.
One of the things I liked about this recipe was that the kale used isn’t the regular old curly kale that you see all over the place. This was lacinato kale, which is also referred to as Italian or Tuscan kale. It’s not as tough as the regularly-used version, has a deeper green color, and has a lot more flavor than other varieties (at least that’s what I thought). I let that sit and stew for about 10 minutes, and then I was ready to get it in my belly!
The toppings really completed the meal. The avocado, the cilantro, the squeeze of lime, and the crunchy tortilla strips–a flavor explosion, for sure. The meaty texture of the hominy and the depth of flavor from the poblano peppers were exactly what I needed on a rainy day. I guess following instructions can be a good thing, huh?
And even though the recipe card said that it serves 2 people, it resulted in enough for 4 bowls, so extra meals. Bonus! This was one Blue Apron Experiment that worked out in tasty fashion. Another recipe card I’ll be holding onto for future use!
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I have always wondered about Blue Apron. Great blow-by-blow review of the box!
While the recipes themselves are very good, I admit that the jury is still out on whether I really like the service or not. Would love other folks’ input!
Wow! This looks amazing — looks so flavorful and hearty!! I’m always curious about the boxes different companies offer, so glad to see your review. Sounds like a winner!
Oh this looks so good!!
This looks amazingly delicious. I haven’t tried blue apron… yet. 🙂
We received a couple of weeks of meals from Blue Apron as a gift last year and we too found the recipes tasty and the ingredients fresh. In the end, it gave me some new ideas but we decided we can handle getting ingredients on our own. For busy people that enjoy fresh food, it’s a decent option!