Blue Apron ~ Summer Soba Salad

A hearty summer salad for a hot summer day.  This required only a little cooking, so didn't heat up the kitchen like some of the meals.  

I learned how to take fresh corn off the cob and lightly saute it with ginger and scallions.  The soba noodles are made with buckwheat and cool very quickly.  The salad consisted of, in addition to the noodles and corn, fresh cherry tomatoes and cucumber, with a dash of thai basil.

The dressing was a mix of rice wine vinegar, Soy Glaze and mirin.  Yummy!

4 Stars

Blue Apron ~ Fried Egg-Topped Summer Saute

Not one of my favorite meals.  Too much work for too little flavor.  The saute was made up of wilted spinach, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, and purple fingerling potatoes and was topped with a fried egg.

The Parmesan sauce did not thicken and was rather runny, nor could it add the flavor needed for the meal.

On the plus side, I did learn to wilt spinach.

2 Stars

Blue Apron ~ Squid Ink Linguine Pasta with Shrimp and Cherry Tomatoes

This dish was fantastic!  The squid ink pasta has a unique flavor and a deep black color.  The accompanying sauce was very easy to prepare.  It was made up of tomato paste, fresh garlic, cherry tomatoes and fresh lemon juice.  All these flavors, plus a dash of crushed red peppers, made this a delightful meal.

I supplemented this meal with a Caesar Salad.

5 Stars.

Blue Apron ~ Romano Bean and Barley Risotto

I figured this would be the least favorite of this week's meals.  I supplemented it with a tossed salad because I was sure my hubby wouldn't be crazy about this meal.  I was wrong.  He enjoyed it.

The dish called for fennel, which I had never used before.  It really added a nice flavor to the risotto.  The pearled barley was substituted for rice to give a new twist on risotto.  The Romano beans (another new vegetable for me) was cooked into the risotto.  After the barley was cooked, chopped parsley and Parmesan Cheese was stirred in.  The dish was topped off with a nice cherry tomatoes marinated in ground fennel seeds and fresh basil.

3 Stars

Blue Apron ~ Summer Squash Quesadillas

This meal was supposed to be a squash and squash blossom quesadilla, however, the squash blossoms turned to mush.  I assume it is a function of the refrigerator, which is on its last leg.

The edible flowers are supposed to add a subtly, savor flavor the dish.  I'll have to try this dish again when the squash blossoms are in season.

Anyway, the squash quesadillas were tasty.  It was accompanied by Mexican-style corn on the cob, which was really delicious.

This dish was good, easy and quick to prepare, but not my favorite.

3 Stars

Blue Apron ~ Stir-Fried Szechuan Eggplant with Shishito Peppers

This week all of my meals are vegetarian.  I chose vegetarian because I didn't want another steak, and the only other option was for vegetarian.

My first meal of the week was the Stir-Fried Szechuan Eggplant with Schishito Peppers and Garlic Chives.  The peppers were new to me.  Apparently most are mild but everyone and a while, one can be really hot.  They are cooked with the stems on, but the stem is removed before serving.  All of the peppers in my batch were mild.  The sauce had enough spice to give flavor, but not so hot I couldn't eat it.

A nice cool Summer Cucumber with Garlic Chives was a nice side to the main dish.

3 Stars

Blue Apron ~ Ras El Hanout Chicken Pitas

The North African-styled Ras El Hanout Chicken Pitas were served with a Cherry Tomato and Cucumber Tabbouleh Salad.  The cool Greek Yogurt and Cucumber sauce was a nice balance to the spicy chicken.  The Tabbouleh salad was delicious.

"Res el Hanout" is an Arabic term meaning "head of the shop."  Traditionally it was the shopkeeper's best spices of the day blended together.  Most blends of this spice include coriander, cumin, allspice, cardamon, ginger, turmeric and black pepper.

The Tabbouleh salad is made with bulgur wheat, which is a versatile grain made from Drurm wheat.  The word "Bulgur" is a Turkish word and is a staple in Turkish cuisine.

This was my hubby's favorite meal of the week.

Blue Apron ~ Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish

This dish taught me how to make corn-meal crusted fish, which is actually so easy, but something I had never tried before.  Not only was it easy, but it was very tasty, too!  The corn-meal coating was mixed with a peppery mustard, giving it a perfect crunchy and flavorful crust.

The meal came with the fixings for creamy potatoes ~ fingerling potatoes served in a creamy remoulade sauce, which was also very easy to make, and a cucumber-tomato salad.  The salad was good, but the next time I would make it with less onion.  There was enough of the remoulade sauce left over for dipping onto the catfish.

Blue Apron ~ Fusilli con Buco Pasta

Summer squash, Pecorine cheese and mint was added to this pasta to give a tasty and easy summer dish. It was quite filling and I have enough left over for two lunches.  I will definitely make this again.

The pasta in this dish is fusilli con buco.  "Con buco" is an Italian phrase meaning "with a hole".  The pasta, therefore, is a springy, hollow noodle. 

Pecorino Cheese was melted into the warm pasta.  Pecorino cheese is one of the world's oldest known varieties of sheep's milk cheese.  The name comes from the Italian word "pecora", which means "sheep."

I also learned that the word "squash" comes from a New England Native American word meaning "eaten raw."

4 Stars

The Velvet Cactus

A new Mexican restaurant.  Interesting decor, with all sorts of interesting artwork, some for sale and some for viewing.

Fantastic food.  The chip dip is served hot and has a wonderful smoky flavor.  It's spicy, but not too spicy.  The best dip I have ever had.

Food servings are HUGE and very tasty.

One won't be overhearing anyone in this restaurant, though.  It is very noisy and hard to hear conversations at the table.  Even the waitress had difficulty hearing to take our orders.

There is a nice outdoor space, which is probably where I will sit the next time I go because it seems like it would be quieter there.

The Black Pearl

The Black Pearl is a favorite in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.  The seafood is delicious, and the seating is on the beach.  A portion is indoors, but often the windows are wide open to let the sea breeze in.  A small seating section is on the covered patio.  That is my favorite section of the restaurant.

Last night we dined on the patio ~ Jumbo crab cakes topped with jalapeño cole slaw.  Fabulous!

The couple at the table next to use looked to be a middle-aged married couple.  The man had finished his meal, but the woman had her cell phone pressed to her ear and talked the whole time, while picking at her food.  The poor man looked bored, while the woman chatted away.  Really???  You don't go out to a nice restaurant only to gab on the phone.  I wonder if she enjoyed her meal.

Beachwalk at Henderson Park

It was such a beautiful evening to enjoy a nice meal on porch at the Beachwalk, where we could enjoy the gentle sea breeze and listen to the waves on the shore.  The meal was fabulous.  The yellow fin tuna was just seared enough so that it just melted in the mouth.  No meal at the Beachwalk is complete without dessert.  The Key Lime Pie is light and fluffy.