Our February 2021 favorite Blue Apron meals were all about P & P – poultry and pork! There was also a lot of rice bowl action and I really just can’t help it – I love my rice!
My husband and I have been cooking steadily with Blue Apron since October 2019. We cooked with them off and on before, but have really stuck with it the last year and a half. It has been so great not to have to worry about three meals a week.
If you see anything interesting here, be sure to give them a try yourself!
Here are my top five favorite Blue Apron meals we cooked in February 2021.
Togarashi Chicken Bowls
The Togarashi Chicken and Brown Rice Bowl recipe was my favorite meal pick for February! I was pleasantly surprised how well all the components complimented each other in one bowl. It was delicious, loaded with veggies, and felt like a really healthy and complete meal.
The butternut squash and onions were roasted in the oven; the cucumber was marinated in rice vinegar for a quick pickle; and the chicken breast pieces were fried up and coated with Togarashi seasoning. The bowls came together with everything served on top freshly-steamed brown rice and a dressing made of miso paste, coconut aminos, sesame oil, and rice vinegar.
Our Variations
We coated the chicken in a little corn starch before frying it up in the pan with the Togarashi. This creates a more crispy texture for the chicken, and is actually a tip we learned from previous Blue Apron recipes!
Prosciutto Gnocchi
This Prosciutto Gnocchi was a hit! My husband claims this is his favorite gnocchi dish that we’ve cooked from Blue Apron, and it definitely earns top marks from me. Though we normally cook together, I made this one all on my own and was actually quite easy. With minimal ingredients, this was definitely a recipe made for a semi-lazy chef (wink wink).
First up, I fried the prosciutto into crispy little bits. This step is important as it adds texture to the gnocchi dish. Then, I cooked up the Brussels sprouts with garlic and red pepper flakes before adding the gnocchi and a bit of water to soften the little potato pillows. The dish is then finished off with butter, honey, and lemon juice, and topped with the crispy prosciutto and parmesan cheese.
Our Variations
Unfortunately, my recipe was missing the grated parmesan that was supposed to come in the box. So, I added in my own freshly-grated parmesan cheese.
Pork Chops & Cabbage
We chose this One-Pan Pork Chop and Cabbage for it’s low carb meal quality. I was a little skeptical on this one but the flavors turned out really well!
Firstly, we prepared the apple slaw by grating it and placing it in a bowl with chives and red wine vinegar. Next was the pork, which was seared after being seasoned with a Southern Spice Blend (also salt & pepper and a few other spices my husband likes to throw in). Then, we sautéed the cabbage and onion together in the fond of the seared pork. To finish up the cooking process, we added the pork chops back to the dish with the cabbage, along with chicken bone broth, and covered up the pan.
The rested pork was served over the cabbage and onions, and topped with the apple slaw. Definitely a great way to reinvent the dated “pork chops and applesauce” meal!
Mexican Turkey Meatballs
This Mexican Turkey Meatball recipe had a lot of my favorite components: Mexican-style cooking; meatballs; cilantro sauce; and rice!
The ground turkey gets mixed with breadcrumbs and a Mexican spice blend to create little flavor bombs (aka meatballs), which are then seared and then set aside to make the sauce. For the sauce, we cooked up diced onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes and water together before adding the meatballs back in.
Finishing touches for this dish included toasted pepitas (which we toasted ourselves) and a cilantro jalapeno sauce (diced pickled jalapenos mixed with their pre-made cilantro sauce). And of course, the meatballs and sauce were served on brown rice!
I’ve noticed that we’ve had a lot more brown rice being incorporated vs. white rice, which is a nice change! I do love both.
Curry-Glazed Chicken
Lastly, I really enjoyed this Curry-Glazed Chicken over brown rice! If you’re counting, that’s three rice bowl favorites this month. Lol.
I was in charge of vegetables on this dish and I may have overcooked them slightly, but we still made them tasty. Those were zucchini, bok choy, and red bell pepper sautéed in garlic, olive oil and sesame oil. Truth be told, these veggies really needed a helping hand in the flavor department. Don’t be shy with the salt!
The chicken was coated in rice flour, salt, pepper, and some extra secret seasonings from the husband and cooked until browned. We then added a glaze of honey, soy sauce, water, and curry paste to finish off the cooking.
You really can’t go wrong with rice bowls!
Note: While these Blue Apron meals come with some seasonings, you really need to taste as you cook and add in additional seasoning to taste as necessary.
Honorable Mention
I just had to mention these two dishes that are both repeat favorites that we’ve had several times prior and reviewed in prior posts: Korean Style-Beef Bowls and Creamy Chipotle Chicken with Cilantro Rice. These pack so much flavor! And are you surprised to see more rice bowls on my favorites list?!
That’s it for my February 2021 Blue Apron Favorites! How do you think we do with recreating the look of the recipes?
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