A review: Blue Apron

It might seem weird that a person who loves to shop for food and cook, like I do, would be interested in a service that delivers it all right to your door and tells you exactly how to make it. You're right, I wouldn't ordinarily do this. Nevertheless, for several reasons I became interested in Blue Apron:

• They offered me a free week of food to get acquainted because my neighbor and friend recommended me to them. Free is almost always good. They didn't, incidentally, know I write a cooking blog.
• The meals they showed on their website looked well balanced and interesting.
• They offered a lot of options for food preference like no red meat, vegetarian, gluten free, fish only, or eat everything.
• It seemed like it might be good to have something to recommend to people who don't know how to cook, don't like or don't have time to grocery shop, or just know there are going to be times when they need food support that doesn't involve living on chips and dip or greasy takeout. I totally support that!

So I decided to give Blue Apron a try, just for fun. I picked a week that showed food I thought we'd like, and I ordered three meals for two, eat everything. This would ordinarily cost a little over $9.50 a meal, or around $20 for two per meal. Pretty comparable to takeout. Here's what I got and here's what I thought.

This is the box the food came in, after I had opened it. It was packed with three reusable frozen ice packs, and everything was in a metallic bag. The meats, two salmon fillets, two chicken breast halves, and one small pork loin roast, were frozen solid. The box was delivered while I was out, and sat on my front porch for nearly two hours. Still frozen.

All the vegetables were in separate plastic bags - snow peas, English peas, a carrot, a bunch of collard greens, green onions, arugula, two red potatoes. In addition there was a big baking potato, a lemon, a radish, and a head of garlic, plus three paper bags marked Knick-Knacks, one for each meal. These contained spices, vinegars, and the like. Blue Apron assumes you have olive oil, salt, and pepper in your kitchen, and little else.

My Grilled Salmon Salad

I made the Grilled Salmon Salad the day after I got the box, when the salmon had defrosted. All the ingredients were very fresh and the dish was, in a word, delicious! The salad included red potatoes, peas, and radishes, and the salmon had a moderately spicy rub. I'd make it again, on my own.

Clear, simple directions were given on a laminated sheet with pictures. It couldn't have been easier. The portions were just right for two people. For those who are interested, the calorie count is on the sheet - this one was 740 calories per serving.

Day one was a big hit. We both loved it!

My General Tso's Chicken

Two days later I made the second dish, General Tso's Chicken with rice and snow peas. This dish was more like what you'd get for takeout at a Chinese restaurant, just a lot fresher. It was fun to make, although I think it would have been harder for someone who didn't already know how to cook. We enjoyed the meal, yet of the three in the box it was our least favorite.




The third meal was a roast pork loin with mashed potatoes, served over collard greens stewed in a molasses sauce. Although sweet sauces aren't usually my thing, it was interesting and really good. On top of it, I learned something about mashed potatoes. I love mashed potatoes, but I've always made kind of a big deal of them. You know, cream, butter, peeling Yukon Gold potatoes. What could be easier than cutting an unpeeled baking potato into chunks, cooking it in salted water for 15 minutes, then mashing it with a fork and two tablespoons of butter? That's all it takes and it is as mashed potatoes should be - simply delicious.

The vote from us on Blue Apron is mostly very positive. If you want or need someone to put the food together for you and tell you how to cook it, this group seems to do it right. The food is very fresh and very high quality. The recipes are clear and easy to follow. The meals are healthy and interesting, and it's plenty of food.

Of course, I love to shop for food and I love to cook, so I'll still be doing it my own way. Just saying.