This is my second time trying and reviewing Blue Apron. For those who live under a rock, Blue Apron is a delivery service that sends you the farm fresh and versatile ingredients needed to cook delicious and healthy meals. I honestly would not have accepted a second opportunity to review this service had I not been ultra pleased the first time around.
While I’m not a Blue Apron expert, having now cooked four meals with Blue Apron, I’m in a position to give a pretty darn good assessment.
*Before we get started, know that the first 20 readers will get two free meals on their first Blue Apron order!! Just go HERE. You will not be disappointed.
This time around, I was sent ingredients to make Crispy Cod Sandwiches with Tartar Sauce and Iceberg Wedge Salad and Sweet Chili and Basil Chicken with Peppers, Eggplant and Coconut Jasmine Rice. The nice thing about Blue Apron is that you can choose the type of meal you want (by type of meat, ethnicity, etc.).You can also indicate if you want to cook for 4 people ($8.74/per person) or 2 people ($9.99/per person). You guys know we are a family of four, so that’s what we went with.
First up: The Cod Sandwiches
Blue Apron provides you your ingredients in pre-measured amounts. All ingredients are delivered to your door (on your chosen date of delivery) and can remain on your front porch for several hours because everything is well insulated and refrigerated.
The ingredients come with an 8 x 11” colorful recipe card that gives step by step instructions.
First, I washed and cut up my veggies. Then it was time to season and bread the fish.
Next, I had a little fish fry, just me myself and I (my favorite rhyme):
As the fish cooked, I whipped up some home made tarter sauce (a first for me) and whisked together the vinaigrette dressing for the iceberg wedges. No pre-fabricated ranch dressing here! The end result:
On a side note, as I was cooking I was thinking that another benefit of Blue Apron is that I use ingredients I don't normally. I am a pretty adventurous cook, but I forget to go outside of my zone sometimes. For example, this recipe included capers and shallots –things I rarely use. Kind of nice to mix it up.
The end result was delish. The pieces of fish were fresh and substantial. Putting them on soft potato buns with the cool tarter sauce was perfect. Nothing wrong with stuff the old pie-hole:
Next up, the Sweet Basil Chicken.
First I laid out my colorful produce:
And, gave it some chopping.
Then, Emma helped me out as we made the coconut rice and browned the eggplant (wait, is she as tall as I am?).
Blue Apron is a pretty cool way to cook with your kids because the step by step colorful recipe card makes directions quite easy to follow. You could do this with kids from about five years old and up, I think.
This recipe was a bit more labor/time intensive than others I’ve done, solely because I had to brown the eggplant in several batches. It still only took about 30 minutes.
The end result was an outstanding mix of flavors. Sautéed chicken and browned eggplant are tossed with fresh peppers, basil, scallions and Ponzu sauce, then served over flavorful coconut rice. YUM. I had leftovers today for lunch since Sam wasn’t here last night.
One thing I’ve noticed is that my meals actually come out looking like the pictures on the recipe card. That usually doesn’t happen to me. The presentation is pretty impressive.
More things to know about Blue Apron:
- Shipping is always free and Blue Apron ships to most of the country.
- Each menu is about 500-700 calories per person (this is indicated on the recipe card)
- All meals can be prepared in 40 minutes or less
Other recipes I want to try are the Mushroom & Fontina Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Sweet Pepper & Roasted Cauliflower Salad and the Spiced Turkey & Chickpea Chili with Chermoula, Labneh & Pita Croutons (since it’s finally feeling fall-like outside).
Do you think you’d give Blue Apron a try?
Are you an adventurous or a routine/safe type of cook?
SUAR
This post was sponsored by Blue Apron, but all opinions are (of course) my own.
