Ok, if we’re being honest, I didn’t do much cooking over the weekend. I spent most of the day Saturday laying around in the sunshine at Virginia Beach with a bunch of lovely ladies. We relaxed for most of the day, but we did fit in a few handstands.

Beach handstands

Luckily, I do have a recipe from Thursday I must share with you!

Have you heard of Blue Apron? They’re a new grocery-delivery service that drops off a box of groceries + 3 recipes right at your doorstep. (Note: I was not supplied this box from Blue Apron, our friend Jeremy sent it to us. Thanks, Jeremy!) I was pretty excited to see what was in the box. They sent this e-mail a day or two before everything arrived, to give me a preview of the recipes:

Screen shot 2013-07-20 at 8.59.36 PM

Needless to say, it got me excited. On the day it arrived, Alex and I decided to make the Tabbouleh recipe. Blue Apron makes it simple, because most of the ingredients are pre-measured, and the box comes with recipe cards that include step by step instructions, including photos, which was awesome. This recipe was fairly simple, but it did have us blanch and peel the tomatoes which was something neither of us had done before. It was kind of fun learning something new! I’d say it took about 20 minutes for this dinner to come together, which isn’t bad at all.

tabbouleh with heirloom tomatoes

Here’s the recipe, reprinted with permission from Blue Apron.

Tabbouleh with Heirloom Tomatoes, Manchego Cheese, and Champagne Vinegar

  • 1 cup bulgur
  • 2 Persian cucumbers (or one regular cucumber)
  • 8 oz Heirloom cherry tomatoes
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 large bunch parsley
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 tbsp champagne vinegar
  • 2 oz Manchego cheese

Cook the bulgur according to package directions. Rinse tomatoes and place in ice water. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for 1 minute, and then put them back in the ice water. Peel the tomatoes. Dice the cucumbers, onion, and parsley. Mince the garlic and mash into a paste. Slice cheese as thinly as possible. Toss everything in a bowl, and dig in!

Honestly, this was pretty delicious! It wasn’t anything super fancy, but we had fun making it, and we actually had plenty of leftovers that I packed for lunch the next day. Bonus!

So here’s what I think about Blue Apron:

  • It’s a great way to try some new foods and new recipes.
  • Yes, it’s a little pricy. It’s $60 for the box, which is 3 meals for 2. Basically $10 each per meal.
  • You do have to plan your schedule around the delivery. It gives you a little less flexibility in your meal planning schedule.
  • The meals also include the calorie count for each meal, and they’re pretty healthy.
  • Alex pointed out that we learned a new cooking technique (blanching) which we might not have done otherwise.
  • It’s some nice variety to the typical menu, and if you love a recipe, you could make it again.
  • It’s nice getting ingredients, like manchego cheese, in exactly the quantity you need. This means not having to buy a lot of an ingredient you might not use again.

Have you tried Blue Apron?

 If you’re curious about other meal kits, I’ve tried a bunch!

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