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.