Meal subscription delivers fresh, organic food

A few weeks ago, my friend Marie introduced me to Blue Apron. Knowing how much I love to cook, she was surprised I hadn’t heard of it. She explained Blue Apron is a meal subscription service that delivers all the fresh, organic ingredients you need in precisely proportioned amounts to make three meals a week.

Unlike the meal delivery systems designed to help you lose weight (think Jenny Craig) which pre-cook the dishes for you to reheat, Blue Apron provides the individual ingredients along with detailed instructions on how to prepare each dish yourself. I’d describe it as a combination meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking lesson all delivered to your door in a climate-controlled box.

Everything is handled online. You choose a meal plan, either for two people or the family-size meals which serve four. After that, you describe your dietary preferences, for example, are you a vegetarian? If you eat only some meat or have an allergy, you can de-select from the list of proteins they offer: beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish and shellfish.

They claim all their ingredients are organic, you will never have the same meal twice in the same year, and you’ll have the chance to try ingredients that may be unfamiliar to you or difficult to find in typical groceries. Most of the techniques are basic enough for someone with rudimentary kitchen skills, but some require a little more experience. Another attractive claim is that each meal can be assembled in about 35 minutes.

Their business model is quite clever. Once you’ve enrolled and have received several weeks of meal kits, you’re given the opportunity to gift a set of free meals to someone else - which is how Marie got me started. I received an email asking me to create an account and make my selections.

Now that I’m a member, I’m automatically set to receive my three meals each week unless I let them know in advance that I’d like to skip a delivery. While the cost for the service (about $10 per person per meal) is more than you would probably spend buying your own ingredients, the quality and convenience may be worthwhile. Consider this an option when you don’t want to eat out, but want to cook something different. As I unpacked my first box, I found the interior sealed with a foil lining and two large ice packs had kept everything properly chilled. The meats were still frozen and went directly into our freezer. The various vegetables were placed on the counter or in the refrigerator along with little brown bags labeled “knick knacks” which held spice mixes and small packets of ingredients.

Except for whole vegetables, like beets, avocados and tomatillos, each ingredient was in its own labeled plastic bag, measured to the exact amount for the corresponding recipe. The box also came with a letter from the Blue Apron team introducing this week’s food theme - Cinco de Mayo.

The three meals that arrived in their deconstructed state included Pork Pozole (sometimes spelled posole), Chicken Mole Quesadillas and Fish Tacos.The quesadillas and tacos were designed to be served with a salad, while the pozole was treated as a one-pot dish. The front of each recipe card had an image of the finished dish as well as photos of the ingredients (in case you weren’t sure which was a lime and which was a tomatillo).

My first experiment was with the pozole. Some of you may know it’s a traditional soup with Aztec heritage and a wide range of variations. The primary ingredient is always hominy - dried corn kernels that have been treated with a mineral lime bath. This process loosens the hulls and softens the kernels, which causes them to double in size. The texture is slightly chewy with a hint of corn in the complex flavor.

Recipe instructions were straightforward and easily understood, except for directions to toast the pumpkin seeds in oil instead of a dry skillet (I did that my way). Also, the list of ingredients on the front of the card was in a different order than they were used in the recipe (a minor quibble). They assume you have olive oil, salt and pepper on hand. And, that 35-minute target felt tight.

But, our bowls of flavorful soup were hot and spicy with a crunchy texture layer from the fresh garnishes. The photo here shows the finished product in front of the array of prepped ingredients. While I’m not sure I’ll schedule delivery every week, this delicious experiment could become a habit.

Blue Apron Pozole*

Olive oil
8 oz ground pork
1 1/2 C hominy
3 garlic cloves
2 radishes
1 avocado
1 lime
1 red onion
3 tomatillos
1 bunch cilantro
3 T pepitas
1 T Mexican spice blend**
salt & pepper, to taste

Rinse and drain the hominy. Peel and slice the onion and garlic. Trim the radishes and cut into matchsticks. Quarter the lime. Pit, peel and dice the avocado; drizzle with juice of 1 lime wedge. Remove and discard papery skins from tomatillos; dice. Remove leaves from cilantro stems, discarding stems.

Add a dollop of olive oil to a large soup pot and heat over medium high. Add the pork and crumble with a wooden spoon, cooking just until no longer pink. Remove pork to a bowl and leave drippings in the pan. Add a small dollop of olive oil and onion to the same pot. Cook until translucent and add garlic; cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add diced tomatillos and sprinkle with spice blend. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly to break up the tomatillos. Add 2 C water and deglaze the pan of any browned bits. Add the hominy and the cooked pork; bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the pepitas: place them in a dry, nonstick skillet over medium high; cook, shaking the pan regularly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes; set aside. Add the juice of one lime wedge to the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle pozole into two soup bowls and garnish with radish matchsticks, avocado, cilantro leaves and toasted pepitas. Serve with remaining lime wedges. Yield: 2 servings.

*Note - adapted from www.BlueApron.com/recipes/604

**Note - mixed from smoked paprika, chipotle chili powder, cumin and coriander.