My boyfriend and I are always incredibly busy. We also aren’t great at cooking. And did I mention that we’re busy? I work as a photographer and he’s in sales. Most days of the week, we get home, order a pizza, and crash on the living room couch.
I know, I know. Not particularly healthy, right? I’m not much of a believer in New Year’s resolutions around dieting and exercise, but I do try to make tiny resolutions each year on my birthday. For my birthday gift this year, I asked my boyfriend to get us a subscription to a meal delivery service. I thought it would be an easy way for us to eat better and spend some quality time together instead of zoning out in front of reruns of The Walking Dead.
He signed us up for the Blue Apron two-person plan. When our box arrived, it had the ingredients for three recipes with portions large enough for two people. It was cool to unpack the box and see all of the fresh ingredients and seasonings.
We Become Chefs! (Sort Of.)
For our first meal, we had Spicy Noodles, Snap Peas, and Mushrooms with a Japanese-Style Omelette. This was never something we would have attempted on our own, so we were excited and slightly nervous about whether the finished result would be edible.
Turns out that it was more than edible; it was delicious. Minus basics like salt, pepper, and olive oil, Blue Apron included every ingredient we needed to make perfectly-cooked noodles served with delicious vegetables, a sweet and spicy sauce, and a succulent Japanese omelette garnish that we learned is called a “kinshi tamago.”
The next night, I got home a little late. My wonderful boyfriend had already started cooking our next meal (proving that he’s definitely a keeper): Mozzarella and Arugula Paninis with a fresh Marinated Summer Squash and Olive Salad. This is a guy who’s idea of cooking is opening a can of Chef Boyardee, but he really had fun following the recipe. The result? Warm and melty paninis with a crisp and delicious salad.
We skipped the following night because we had plans to dine out with friends. The night after, we settled down to make the final Blue Apron meal in our box: a Roasted Cauliflower and Freekeh Salad with Lemon-Yogurt Sauce and Spiced Tahini Dressing. I had never heard of freekeh and thought it sounded, well, freaky. For those who are also new to this mystery ingredient, it turns out that freekeh is a young-harvested wheat that’s toasted. It made a truly tasty base for the salad, which was topped off with roasted cauliflower, roasted almonds, dates, cucumber, and addictive yogurt lemon sauce (this stuff would taste great on everything) and spiced tahini dressing.
More Blue Apron? Yes, Please!
Based on our first box, we have to give Blue Apron two thumbs up. The only sadness we experienced was that although there was plenty in each meal for two of us, there were no yummy leftovers for work the next day. We’re excited that now that we have the recipes and know how to cook them, we can invite friends over on the weekend and cook our favorites on our own. We’ll definitely continue ordering and expanding our culinary horizons.
Don’t forget to sign up right away to receive $30 off your first delivery. It’s a pretty sweet deal for some amazing food!
