January 2, 2019

I recently signed up for Blue Apron, on a whim. I’ve been eating out and buying lunch at work, more often lately. I’m finding it difficult to go to the grocery store and lost a lot of motivation to find recipes online and make them myself. I needed a change and I had heard of Blue Apron, through podcasts, so I was already thinking about trying it. And then another app I like to use, called Acorns, had a promotion to sign up. So I’m giving it a shot for a couple weeks.

How It Works

Blue Apron has a few options for their subscription model:

• 2 Person Meals (2 or 3 per week)
  • “Signature” (AKA: normal)
  • “Weight Watchers Freestyle”
• 4 Person Meals (2, 3, or 4 per week)

They also allow you to choose the day of the week for your delivery. And if you have a diet that doesn’t include certain types of meat or any meat at all, they have you covered.

I chose to go with the 2 person meals (3 per week) option, thinking that I would cook dinner and then save the other portion for lunch the next day. And this costs $60/week

All of the packaging that your food comes in is recyclable and the portions are measured out appropriately for each meal. I managed to recycle almost everything that I could reasonably be expected to wash, and wasted no food.

In many areas, you must wash/rinse out your recycling. Check to see if that is required in your area!

First Meal

Pesto Pasta with Broccoli & Lemon Ricotta

• Time: ~20 minutes
• Servings: 2
• Calories: 680 (per serving)

Ingredients:

• Lumaca Rigata Pasta (6 oz.)
• Broccoli (1/2 lb. or 1 head)
• Lemon (1)
• Garlic (2 cloves)
• Basil Peso (1/3 cup)
• Sliced Roasted Red Peppers (2 oz.)
• Ricotta Cheese (1/2 cup)
• Grated Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)
• Fromage Blanc (2 tbsp.)
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (1/4 tsp.)

Steps:

1. Prepare the ingredients:
   • Fill a medium post with salted water; cover and heat to boiling on high.
   • Wash and dry the fresh produce.
   • Roughly chop the broccoli.
   • Peel and roughly chop 2 cloves of garlic.
   • Quarter and deseed the lemon.
   • Roughly chop the peppers.
2. Cook the broccoli:
   • In a large pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil on medium-high until hot.
   • Add the chopped broccoli and garlic and as much of the red pepper flakes as you’d like. Season with salt & pepper.
   • Cook, stirring occasionally, 5-7 minutes, or until lightly browned and slightly softened.
   • Add 1/2 cup of water and cook, stirring occasionally, 3-4 minutes, or until the broccoli is softened and the water has cooked off. Turn off the heat.
3. Cook the pasta:
   • While the broccoli cooks, add the pasta to the pot of boiling water.
   • Cook, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes, or until al dente (still slightly firm to the bite).
   • Reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, drain thoroughly.
4. Make the lemon ricotta:
   • While the pasta cooks, in a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, half of the parmesan cheese, and the juice of 2 lemon wedges.
   • Season with salt & pepper.
5. Finish the pasta & serve your dish:
   • To the pan of cooked broccoli, add the cooked pasta, fromage blanc, and half the reserved pasta cooking water. Cook on medium-high, stirring constantly, 1-2 minutes, or until the pasta is coated.
   • Turn off the heat. Stir in the pesto and chopped peppers.
   • Taste, then season with salt & pepper if desired.
   • Serve the finished pasta topped with the lemon ricotta and remaining parmesan cheese. Serve the remaining lemon wedges on the side. Enjoy!

I really wanted to add pictures, but I’ve messed up how I handle pictures in posts 🙄 So I’ll be working on that.

Thoughts

• I’d like them to offer options for more (or less) portions. Currently they have no option that caters to people who live alone.
• Recycling is great, but reducing and reusing are a lot better. They could work on using less single-use plastic.
• My first meal was excellent! And they include wine pairing suggestions with the recipe.
  • Blue Apron also has a wine subscription.