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It has been said (and debated) that 10,000 hours of practice will make you an expert at almost anything. When it comes to cooking, I’ll admit I’m pretty far from there, but after a couple of years of using the meal delivery service Blue Apron for family dinners, I’ve picked up some great, simple kitchen tricks that I use all the time. Here are three of the delicious recipes I recently tried from Blue Apron, along with their tips that helped make it easy…
One of the coolest things about Blue Apron is how they include recipes inspired by international cuisines. This juicy steak dish, with ginger and peanuts, is based on the flavors of West Africa, and served with citrusy mashed plantains.
The steak is seasoned with Grains of Paradise, a fragrant spice related to ginger that packs a peppery/lemony punch (and has an awesome name). You have to crush it first to bring out its aroma, but you don’t need a special tool. Just spread out the seeds on a cutting board and rock the rounded bottom edge of a pan back and forth over them until they’re broken up into small pieces. (The same technique works for peppercorns and other whole spices.) You can see this tip — along with many others, including how to slice steak — in Blue Apron’s short how-to videos. They are hugely helpful.
Alex, Toby, Anton and I would all say that “fish sandwich” (of any kind) is one of our favorite foods, so these crispy spiced salmon sandwiches were a huge hit.
The recipe includes a salad with a lemony-mustard vinaigrette. Restaurant salads always seem perfectly dressed, and Blue Apron says you just need to do a few things to get the same result at home. Here are the steps: Let your greens dry completely; use a bowl big enough to fully toss your salad; season the greens with salt and pepper, which adds great flavor; and then use small, gradual amounts of dressing, tossing with your hands in between dollops, until you thinly coat every leaf. (Blue Apron says the biggest rookie salad mistake is putting on too much dressing.)
I made this gnocchi caprese with garlic toasts last week, and it could not have been more of a crowd-pleaser. What’s not to love?
It’s easy to forget to salt the water when you’re cooking pasta, but it’s the one step you can’t skip. As the pasta cooks, it absorbs the salty water and gets nicely seasoned from within, which is part of why we all love the taste of pasta. Blue Apron advises adding enough salt to make the cooking water taste “like the ocean,” which is a lot — a generous handful — and says to put it in just as the water comes to a boil. (You can use the same approach when boiling vegetables, too.)
Thank you so much, Blue Apron, for all the great recipes, ingredients and tips!
Great news for first-time customers: Sign up for Blue Apron and get $30 off your first order.
What are your favorite recipes right now? Any other kitchen tricks to share?
(Photos by Yossy Arefi for Cup of Jo. This post is sponsored by Blue Apron, a meal service we’ve loved for years. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that support Cup of Jo.)
