As you know, Ryan and I have been regularly ordering Blue Apron meals for a couple of years now and I’ve picked up a few helpful cooking tips and tricks along the way that I thought might interest you guys, too!
Below you will find a rundown of some of the tips that I find myself using most frequently!
Simple Cooking Tips To Make Meal Prep Easier
- Use a spoon to peel fresh ginger
Ginger is one of my favorite ways to enhance the flavor of everything from chicken and fish to vegetables and salad dressings. I used to gravitate toward ginger paste or ground ginger in recipes because I hated peeling fresh ginger, even though there’s no denying that fresh ginger is better. Thanks to Blue Apron, I started peeling fresh ginger with a spoon instead of a knife and was instantly amazed at how quickly the peel separates from the ginger and how much less ginger I am wasting now that I’m not failing at peeling it with a knife.
- To quickly dice an onion, cut the onion in half, lay the halves on their flat sides and make horizontal cuts almost the whole way through before making vertical cuts to finely dice the onion
This is a tip that’s probably easier to understand if you watch the video demo, but it completely changed the way I dice an onion. I feel like I dice up onions all the time (I love them in my frittatas and egg muffins!) and this tip comes in handy for me on a daily basis. It definitely saves time but I’m still waiting for the tip that takes away my tears every time I dice an onion… I can’t seem to stop the waterworks!
- To take the bite out of a raw onion, thinly slice it and soak it in water for 10 minutes
As a big-time onion lover (Ryan says onions are my “go-to” ingredient in almost all my savory recipes), I love this tip! Though I love the flavor of raw onions in salads or on sandwiches, I do not always love the strong bite that comes along with them. By soaking the onion slices in water for 10 minutes (or longer), a lot of the strong bite is magically gone but the delicious onion flavor remains.
- On a similar note, take the bite out of shallots by soaking them in vinegar or water
Raw shallots add a delicious flavor and crunch to salad dressings and sandwiches but the bitter flavor can be off-putting. By soaking chopped shallots in vinegar (or water), the sharp flavor is softened but the crunch and tang remain.
- To get the flavor from a jalapeño without all of the spice, remove the seeds and the membrane before slicing or dicing
I am such a baby when it comes to spicy food, but in the same breath, I really like the flavor of hot peppers. It’s almost like I love the first bite of a spicy dish before the spice really hits me and then I can’t take it anymore. A tip I learned from Blue Apron has saved me when it comes to jalapeños! When you slice a jalapeño, if you remove all the seeds and the inner fleshy-membrane, you remove a lot of the spice! You’re essentially left with the smooth peel which still has a lot of flavor without a ton of heat. (You may see a video tutorial of this tip here.)
- When slicing into a beet, avoid dying your cutting board by placing a paper towel on top to protect the wood from the intense color
- Toast the bread of a grilled cheese sandwich before cooking
I’m not sure why I never thought about this before but it’s a tip that really does make a difference when it comes to achieving a perfectly crispy grilled cheese sandwich! By lightly toasting your bread before grilling, your sandwich is also less likely to become soggy from all the fillings you pile inside.
Our Most Recent Blue Apron Delivery
Though picking up new helpful cooking tips and tricks is an added benefit to receiving regular Blue Apron meal deliveries, the food is obviously what keeps us coming back again and again.
Ryan and I typically select the two-person plan, though there is a four-person family plan available as well, and receive all of the ingredients we need to make fresh, chef-designed recipes at home. One of the meals in our most recent box claimed a spot on my “Favorite Blue Apron Meals Of All Time” list.
The Seared Cod and Udon Noodles with Cabbage Shiitake Mushroom Broth was so unbelievably flavorful that Ryan and I both said it could easily be served in a high-end restaurant and we’d happily order it over and over again.
It was the perfect comfort food to enjoy on a chilly night in Charlotte and we both could not stop raving about it.
Up next was Chicken Schnitzel with Fingerling Potato Salad, which I initially wasn’t overly excited to make since I am not a fan of potato salad.
I was pleasantly surprised to find myself actually enjoying this potato salad and I’m thinking the lack of mayonnaise in this potato salad and mustard and shallot-based marinade had me singing a different tune. (The potato salad was also served warm which I think probably made a big difference as well. Something about cold potatoes doesn’t appeal to me.)
The third dish we made was another hit in our house and I had a feeling it would be since I absolutely LOVE beets.
The Center Cut Pork Chops with a Warm Beet, Carrot and Walnut Salad made the perfect early Sunday evening dinner. The buttery thyme flavor of the seasoned pork added so much to the earthy warm carrot and beet salad and there definitely were not any leftovers in our house after we made this one!
Blue Apron Giveaway + Discount Offer
Blue Apron is offering the first 100 PBF readers two free meals on their first Blue Apron order. Simply click here to redeem!
Additionally, one PBF reader will win a week of FREE Blue Apron meals for two! Woop!
To enter this giveaway, simply click over to the Blue Apron cookbook, browse around and select your favorite recipe before leaving a comment on this blog post telling me which recipe appeals most to you.
I will randomly select a winner next Friday.
Good luck!
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Disclaimer: This blog post is sponsored by Blue Apron. Thank you very much for your continued support!
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The Broccolini & Goat Cheese Polenta with Soft-Boiled Eggs and Red Onion Jam sounds like a super unique dish I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else! I love gooey eggs and would enjoy learning how to cook with polenta.
The cauliflower cheesesteaks look really interesting! I would love to try them!
Oh yes, this is an easy one! Goat cheese and butternut squash Mac and cheese. Mac and cheese always takes the cake!
The pork bolognese looks awesome!
I would love to try the cauliflower cheesesteaks!
The Catfish Meunière looks great! Love fresh fish dishes!
The goat cheese and butternut squash is already making me hungry!
I would love to try the Trinidadian Chicken Curry! YUM! Sounds so delicious
Pretzel burgers?! I’ll eat anything on a pretzel roll!
I would love to try making the Tuscan Ribollita Soup!
I JUST ordered my first week of Blue Apron meals last week-I can’t wait for them to be delivered tomorrow night!! I would LOVE a week of free meals to try some additional recipes-especially anything with fish. Their Manhattan-style fish chowder looks amazing!
This was a tough choice, but I know my husband would love the pretzle burger!
White pizza with brussel sprouts!
The chicken and sage biscuit pot pie looks incredible!!
The spicy shrimp spaghetti sounds so good!
I would love to try the Spicy Shrimp Spaghetti!!
I would definitely try the Goat Cheese and Butternut Squash pasta! Both ingredients are some of my favorites, plus I’m training for my first marathon and I’m loving all the carbs 🙂
I love all of your tips! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I love Asian flavors so the udon noodle and tatsoi soup looks incredible to me.
I’d like to try the spiced chicken souvlaki!
The Chicken and Sage Biscuit Pot Pie sounds so tasty!
The cauliflower cheese steaks sound interesting and potentially a winner!
I would LOVE to try the white pizza with brussell sprouts. I have always been intimidated by making white pizza (i don’t know why!), so the help, guidance, and structure of a Blue Apron meal would be MOST welcome. 🙂
The Udon noodle and tatsoi soup looks so good! 🙂
The Miso-honey chicken looks so yummy! Thanks for the giveaway!
I’d love to try the fish with udon noodles!
I would love to try the Udon Noodle and Tatsoi Soup; it looks delicious!
Pork and Ricotta Meatballs sounds great! Would love to try that.
Thanks
The Steak Au Poivre! Can’t pass up a delicious looking steak.
The sweet chili and basil chicken looks yummy!!
The lamb and beef gyros look so good! I don’t have any experience cooking lamb, so I’d love to have a Blue Apron recipe to guide me through. Thanks for the giveaway!
The goat cheese and butternut squash pasta looks so creamy! I love both of those ingredients and would love to try them together!
Goat Cheese & Kale Quiches! I’ve been loving meatless/vegetarian meals lately.. if only my husband would get on board 🙂
Goat cheese and butternut squash pasta! I need to expand my vegetable repertoire.
The cauliflower cheesesteak sandwiches sound like such a delicious way to put a healthy spin on one of my favorite foods!
https://www.blueapron.com/recipes/cauliflower-cheesesteak-sandwiches-with-arugula-salad-warm-mushroom-dressing
The swiss chard and black bean tostadas look great!
The parmesan and provolone pizza looks really fun to make and sounds delicious!
The Fresh Beet Linguine looks so good – I love beets and this would be a different way to prepare them!
Lamb and beef gyros!
I’d try this one: Seared Salmon & Panzanella with Corn, Shishito Peppers & Thai Basil. I’m not even sure I like Salmon, but my bf does — so, I’d like to learn to. Loveeee Shishito Peppers though and the combo sounds fantastic. Mostly, I’d just be really excited to learn though (my cooking skills, ummm, don’t exist).
Pork and riccota meatballs!!
Oh my the pretzel burger sounds awesome! Cool idea!!
I need a whole week-I can’t pick just one-z5)3 cauliflower cheesesteaks and the cod and udon noodles look amazing!
That goat cheese & butternut squash pasta looks SO GOOD! As does everything. I love Blue Apron!
The Trinidadan chicken curry looks interesting! I love making curry and trinidadan chicken curry recipe is something I wouldn’t otherwise try.
Empanadas all the way!!!!
Another thing you can soak in water to take away bitterness is radishes! This totally changed them for me.
Steak au Poivre! I can’t cook red meat for the life of me (it always seems dry) so hopefully they have some tips!
The pretzel burger sounds so so good!
The chicken and sage biscuit pot pie looks delicious!
The pork and ricotta meatballs sound really interesting, especially with the creamy polenta – I’m not sure I’ve ever cooked polenta! And I love broccolini.
The Udon Noodle and Tatsoi Soup sounds amazing With the soft boiled egg= perfection