Using New Flavors in the Kitchen

I love to cook at home, but I have to admit, I often get stuck in a rut of using the same ingredients.  Very rarely do I find myself picking out one of the "weird" veggies at the grocery store to use it in a meal.  Blue Apron is great for me in that.  They send you all the fresh ingredients you need for each meal straight to your house in a refrigerated box.  For this Pasta E Fagioli recipe, I used a fennel bulb with fronds.  Fronds?  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have known what to do with that funny thing if it weren't for the breakdown on the recipe card.  I love how simple using new ingredients is with Blue Apron.


Honorable mention:  this recipe called for garlic chips.  I've never even thought to make crunchy little chips out of garlic slices.  Game changer.


The recipe card called for me to prep all the fresh ingredients first, so here's a beauty shot of some of the veggies I used.  I've actually never used fresh rosemary either (I know, I know), so that was another new experience for me.  After the veggies were prepped, I boiled the noodles and created the base for the meal.  I combined it all and the meal was finished.  Super easy!


Basically if you can follow a recipe card, you can make a pretty fancy meal with no real hiccups in 40 minutes or less.  This meal was a serving size for two, but it was so hearty we ended up having leftovers.  No complaints over here.  There's also a family option, if you have need for meals feeding more than two people.

Since we started using Blue Apron, I've discovered so many new flavors I never would have cooked with.  Fresh ginger and fresh lemongrass are staples in my kitchen thanks to the first Blue Apron meal I ever made.  I'm super interested in making the Cremini & Porcini Mushroom-Barley Soup and the Vegetable Pot Pie next.

**Blue Apron is offering the first 50 readers two free meals on your first order.  Just click here!  Happy cooking!