My Second Blue Apron Adventure

This weekend, I got my second chance to play with a Blue Apron box. This time, my husband cooked with me! One the recipes was something I had never made before--beet, goat cheese, and green apple sliders--and it was my favorite of the three. It came with ingredients for a fingerling potato and frisee salad, which was also delicious. 

The slider recipe was super simple: toasted buns with melted goat cheese, a slice of Granny Smith apple, a couple slices of red beets marinated with shallots and sherry vinegar, and fresh mint. The salad was really simple too: a head of frisee with boiled potatoes, lemon zest and juice, some parsley, shallots, and sherry vinegar. When I boiled the red beets, I noticed that the water they were in turned deep red and super flavorful! I added some lemon juice and turned it into a delicious and gorgeous warm drink. My husband added pepper to his, and it kind of reminded him of a Bloody Mary.

 

The next recipe was for chole (an Indian curry made with chickpeas). While I have made this a bunch of times before, this recipe was quite different from mine in that it used collard greens, canned tomatoes,  and a different style of cooking the spices (the Blue apron recipe dry-cooks the spices). The chole included a can of chickpeas, a can of diced tomatoes, garlic, a bunch of collard greens, a red onion, cilantro, cardamom, ginger, and spices (coriander, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, and chili powder). It was served with naan and coconut yogurt. While yummy, I didn't think the collard greens texture went too well with the dish. I think spinach or kale would have been better. I think I'll stick to my old recipe. 

The last recipe was a three-cheese cannelloni. Fresh pasta sheets were stuffed with a mixture of Fontina cheese, garlic, kale, butternut squash, red onion, Ricotta cheese, and Parmesan cheese. The Bechamel sauce included a little flour, heavy cream, water, aleppo pepper, sumac, and ground cinnamon. This was a great dish, and lots of fun as I have never made cannelloni before or worked with fresh pasta! However, I often use the butternut squash, kale, and cream sauce combo in pasta dishes, so the flavors of this weren't too new for me.

All in all, I love Blue Apron weekends--gourmet food without having to do groceries!