Blue Apron Arrives at Church Prong

Never, ever did I expect to subscribe to a service like this, but after talking with friends who did, I decided to give it a try.  Lately I've lacked inspiration for cooking dinner and that may be in part due to the limited array of exciting ingredients in our neck of the woods.  Also, now that I'm participating in a "biggest loser" campaign with my friends Laila and Denise, this service seems worth a try!

After comparing services, we selected Blue Apron based in NYC.  Their menu sounded the most appealing -- the freshest and most international.  Blue Apron offers several packages but the one we chose is the "3 meals per week" plan (2 servings per meal).  You get to select which day of the week the meals arrive and pick 3 of 6 different meals.  The cost is $9.99 per meal so for $60/week Lance and I can enjoy 3 meals -- that's half the price of dining out once per week at our local favorite restaurant.  

Today our first package arrived -- it weighed 17.6 lbs!  Very impressive so far.  The items were neatly arranged and perfectly chilled.  Lance and I scratch our heads and ask...how can they do this for $9.99/serving?  Well...the one noticeable aspect is that the serving size is certainly smaller than we normally eat (Lance is going to starve!) but that fits in perfectly with my biggest loser campaign.  The reality is that the servings are in line with nutritional recommendations and yield ~600-700 calories/serving.

    

Included in the box are recipe sheets for each of the 3 meals with a brief write-up on the recipe and the chef who inspired it, a listing of the ingredients and step-by-step instructions.  Chef Melissa Perello of restaurant Frances in San Francisco developed the Dukkah-Spiced Salmon with Spring Vegetable & Oyster Mushroom Ragout. The other two dishes are Sirloin Tip Steaks with New Potato, Asparagus and Radish Hash and Laotian Larb Gai with Sticky Rice, Peanuts & Mint -- yum, yum.  Now I'm inspired!

Some of the ingredients include fennel bulb, celeriac and dukkah spice which is made of Za'atar and Fennel Pollen,  Certainly items that are hard to come by on the Northern Neck! 

Stay tuned...we'll be reporting on how the recipes turn out as the week unfolds.  But so far off to a good start!