December was certainly an interesting month. Out here in California, we were under a pretty strict shelter in place from the beginning of December, which meant restaurants were open only for takeout. That also meant we’d be doing a lot of cooking versus eating out (not that we did much of that in 2020 anyway)!
December was also rough for Blue Apron in terms of deliveries. Our carrier was switched to Fed Ex, which turned out not to be so swell as they were way overloaded with holiday deliveries. Many of our boxes arrived several days late, and we weren’t able to use all of the ingredients. So, that means I had less to choose from for my favorites this month! Have no fear, we still had some really great meals in December.
Spanish-Spiced Burgers
If you’ve read some of my other Blue Apron posts, you’d know we are a big fan of their burgers! This burger dish had relatively simple ingredients, but delivered big on flavor. The burgers were seasoned with Spanish spices, and topped with pan-seared red onion.
To balance out the savory, we made a fig jam “aioli” (the recipe calls for mayo, but we subbed sour cream). Everything was assembled on a soft potato bun and served with salty lime blistered shishitos.
Our Variations
As mentioned above, we used sour cream instead of mayonnaise for the fig sauce which went so well on the burgers! We also added a slice of pepper jack cheese to melt onto the burgers.
Seared Pork & Mushroom Farro
What a hearty and earthy dish! This pork dish delivered juicy and flavorful seared pork atop barley, mushroom and carrots. We finished the dish off with a scallion pan sauce and a dusting of togarashi seasoning.
There’s a lot of mushroom flavor going on in this one, which I was a little hesitant about. Mushrooms are typically not my favorite vegetable! However, the flavors of the mushrooms came out in the best way with liquid from rehydrated shitake mushrooms for the sauce, and freshly chopped mushrooms to mix in with the barley.
A pleasant surprise!
Beef & Pork Meatball Bake
The Cheesy Beef & Pork Sausage Meatball bake was definitely the most memorable meal of December for us. It was our very first time paying for a premium meal, which means elevated ingredients at an additional cost per person. Was the upgrade worth it? Absolutely!
The beef and pork meatballs were baked with gnocchi, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. For our sides, we had an arugula and watermelon radish salad in a tangy dressing and garlic bread with Italian seasoning. There was so much flavor going on between all the elements of this dinner!
The meatball gnocchi bake made enough food so that we could both have a hearty portion for dinner, and a leftover serving for lunch the next day for me.
Korean Beef & Rice Bowls
Rice bowls are always a win for us! These Korean Beef Rice Bowls had thinly sliced beef cooked up in a sauce made of ponzu, sesame oil, rice vinegar and gochujang. Also in the rice bowls were garlic sautéed bok choy and rice vinegar-marinated shredded carrots. The bowls were topped with a fried egg, fresh green scallions, and sesame seeds.
Note: I see some people complain online that the thin strips of beef can be tough. I think this is where your cooking skills need to come in as you don’t want to overcook cuts of beef like this. Ours are always fine!
Our Variations
We also added a healthy portion of kimchi (which I get from Trader Joe’s). Nothing says Korean rice bowls like a pile of spicy fermented cabbage!
Curry Pork Noodles
My final favorite meal for December was this savory Curry Pork Noodle dish! The ground pork was fried up with mushrooms, purple cabbage, and garlic. The sauce component was comprised of curry paste, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar for a nice balance of savory and sweet.
Once the noodles were ready after a quick boil, they were tossed in with the pork and veggies, along with the sauce and some rehydrated mushroom water. Sometimes, curry can be a very overpowering ingredient but I thought it worked well in this noodle dish.
Would you pick any of these dishes to cook for yourselves?
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Blue Apron Favorites April 2021 - Appetites at Home
August 3, 2021 at 5:26 pm[…] You can read my original review of this dish here. […]