My Blue Apron Experience

So we had both been working late for some time--he had motions and briefs and complaints coming at him at work left and right, and I had just started a new job and was working long hours to let osmosis do its thing and learn more about my new responsibilities. When I would leave work, I only had the energy to face one of two things: either a workout at the gym or a home-cooked meal for dinner. The gym would win out because it doesn't involve washing dishes. That meant dinner would be takeout. Or chips and salsa. Or cheese and crackers. #realtalk

Blue Apron's Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Kale Caesar Salad

Enter Blue Apron. I had heard about Blue Apron a while back on some food blog I read: it's a service that curates recipes and delivers the fresh, pre-portioned ingredients you need to make those recipes to your doorstep once a week. At the time, it seemed expensive and they weren't operating in our area yet. Then, a few months ago, Maddie from A Practical Wedding wrote about her time cooking with Blue Apron. They were offering two free meals if you signed up right then. We looked at each other and said, "Why not?" Maybe it'll help curb our takeout and delivery spending. At the very least, I figured it would make it a bit easier to hit the gym and try and get some real food down the hatch. 

Turns out that yeah, it did help control our takeout spending. Yeah, it did make it easier to make two healthy decisions after work, not one or the other. But what I didn't expect was that I'd end up looking forward to the Blue Apron deliveries. I didn't expect the food to taste SO GOOD. I didn't expect that it would help execute a routine that we'd been trying to implement for ages: one cooks, the other cleans up. 

Blue Apron's Eggplant Parmesan

I didn't expect to get pushed out of my cooking comfort zone. Wasn't even really aware that I had a cooking comfort zone. But I do: I tend to cook recipes that are long, intricate affairs with dips and dabs of many different ingredients, which means I end up with lots of leftovers. I don't mess around with ingredients I hate, like eggplant, or fish I've never tried before, like hake. I don't prep all my ingredients before I start cooking. Who's got that many prep bowls? Just get down to it!

But you saw that up there, right? That Eggplant Parmesan? Yeah, I made that. Yeah, I even ate some of it. I still think eggplant is weird, though. The recipes are fast--I can go from prepping to cooking to eating in an hour and a half, which makes everything seem less daunting. And everything's pre-measured and -portioned for you, so you don't end up with half a bunch of cilantro wilting away in your fridge.

Look, I know you're saying, "Geez, why doesn't she just marry Blue Apron?" To which I would say, (1) already married, sorry sucker, and (2) it changed the way I eat. Cooking dinner on a weeknight is not the same as cooking French toast on a Saturday morning with your whole weekend stretching out before you. Blue Apron helps bring a little of that Saturday-morning feeling to your Tuesday-night dinner. Who wouldn't want to marry that?

More: Here's what else you can do with your Saturday morning.

Blue Apron's Seared Salmon with Tomato Chutney

If you're interested in giving Blue Apron a try, I've got four free meals I can pass out to the first four people that ask for them. Get at me in the comments.

Two-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

Rough week. Made this to end it on the right note.

Hervé This’s Chocolate Mousse
From Food52

Make this when you need to reassure yourself that you can work wonders—even with just two ingredients. 

Ingredients:
3/4 c. water
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I used bittersweet chocolate chips)
Ice cubes
Whipped cream (optional)

Procedure:

1. Pour water into a saucepan. Then, over medium-low heat, whisk in the chocolate. You should end up with a very thin, homogeneous chocolate sauce.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice and a little bit of water to let the ice move around. Set a smaller, empty bowl inside the large one. Pour the chocolate sauce into the smaller bowl.

3. Get out your electric mixer and start beating the sauce as you would cream. Watch the chocolate sauce closely to see it move through the bubble build up stage, the thickening stage, and advance to (what I call) the track stage. That’s where the sauce is getting thick enough to be considered a mousse, and the beaters are leaving their tracks behind them. Stop beating when you get to this stage.

4. Pour or spoon the mousse immediately into ramekins, jars, or, when you’ve had a rough week, cocktail glasses. Move these into the fridge and let them set for about 30 minutes.

5. Garnish with whipped cream, if using, and serve.

A Lunch Equation

Lunch Salad = Gre + Gra + F + P + D

Where Gre = Greens, in this case, a mix of baby arugula, herbs, and spring greens
Where Gra = Grain, in this case, leftover farro from Sunday’s dinner party
Where F = Fruit, in this case, a huge Pink Lady apple
Where P = Protein, in this case, a very healthy shaving of Parmesan cheese
Where D = Dressing, in this case, Bon Appetit’s Creamy Lemon Vinaigrette, which is worth every one of the 60 seconds it takes to make.

Peas and Shells

I hated peas for a long time. My mom and grandma love telling this story: When I was a baby, they’d feed me one of those Gerber baby food jars every night. Every jar—regardless of the main food component—always had peas in it. Every night, a spoonful of baby food went in my mouth, and every night, a single pea would come back out with the spoon.

In case you’re wondering, there are seven peas in a jar of Gerber baby food.

But this is not a recipe for baby food. This is a recipe for anyone trying to give peas a chance. (#sorryimnotsorry) I hope you’ve had a chance in life to sit at your kitchen table with an empty bowl on your left side and a paper bag full of springtime peas in their pods on your right. I hope you’ve had a chance to twist off one of the pod’s ends, unzip it, and unleash a riot of peas into your bowl. And I hope you’ve learned how crunchy real peas are. If not, work on it. Immediately. They’ll be gone before you know it.

Peas and Shells
From The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman

This recipe would only be augmented if you decided to substitute mint in for the parsley as a garnish at the end. In fact, the next time I make this, I’ll do that very thing. Cook this on a glorious spring day that tricks you into thinking it’s already summer. Then take advantage of the sweet green peas that we still have to remind yourself that the season is still as fresh as they are. 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. dried medium-sized shells (I used a mix of whole wheat and regular shells)
1 c. shelled peas (or the yield of 1 lb. peas in their shells)
1 c. heavy cream
3 T. salted butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 T. lemon zest
1 c. finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. parsley
Lemon olive oil, for garnish (optional)

Procedure:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. While you’re waiting on the water, start shelling your peas. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Add peas to the pot during the last 60 seconds of the pasta’s cooking time. Reserve 1/2 c. of the cooking water, and set it aside for the time being. Drain the pasta and the peas together.

2. Pour the cream into the same pot that you cooked the pasta in. Bring it to a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently. (Remember that trick I taught you for knowing how thick is just thick enough? If you can swipe your finger along the back of a cream-coated spoon and the line holds for a second or two, you’re good.)

3. Add the butter, and stir it until it has melted. Generously season the sauce with freshly ground black pepper, a three-fingered pinch of salt, and the lemon zest.

4. Add 3/4 cup Parmesan and stir it until the sauce is smooth; then toss in the drained pasta & peas. Cook the pasta in the sauce for 2 minutes, until the sauce has slightly thickened.

5. Add the reserved pasta water by the spoonful if needed to loosen up the sauce. Add salt to taste.

6. Divide the pasta among bowls. Garnish with remaining Parmesan, chopped parsley, and lemon olive-oil.