Today I’m sharing a recipe from Blue Apron and giving an update on the service after using it for several months. I tried it earlier this summer as part of a sponsorship and loved it so much I signed up myself. I have been using them ever since (I swear they aren’t paying me to say that!) it works perfectly for our family’s schedule. If you haven’t heard of Blue Apron, it is a meal service where the fresh ingredients are planned and shipped for each meal. It’s like someone else does the meal planning and shopping for you. I gave a thorough review of the company last time (click here to read) but thought I would add a few points now that I’ve been using it for a while.

1. There is a lot of chopping. My husband jokes it should be called “Chef’s Knife”  instead of Blue Apron because you get some real quality time with your knife. For us this has been a good thing because the kind of food I like the most usually involves lots of chopping (read: fresh food). Committing to Blue Apron just means that we force ourselves to cook even on nights we don’t want to because we don’t want to waste our order.  It has created really great habits.

2. Blue Apron allows other people to help you cook. We share the cooking responsibilities pretty evenly in our house. But having a meal plan and recipes ready means that other people can help. My husband definitely takes charge more now there is a clear plan for what to eat (none of that figuring out what to eat for dinner.) When we have family in town or a babysitter they have been able to cook some of the meals before we get home from work. It’s really practical in that way.

3. The Ingredients are Sourced Well. The ingredients we get in our box are really good quality. For example the Fish Taco Recipe (below) used the Tortillas from some fancy tortilla place (Tortilleria Nixtamal.) They are made using whole dried corn kernels instead of corn flour. I love that they are ingredients that are artisanal and hard to get. I usually buy my produce from our weekly Farmer’s Market and the ingredients I get in my box are of comparable quality. (Once in a while I’ll get a less-than-stellar piece of produce but that is rare.)

4. The Meals are Good and Diverse. It’s almost like a cooking school. I’ve found myself making things I never would make on my own and we love them. I try new techniques like breaded fish or making homemade aioli. When we find a recipe we really like I’ve even remade it when I’ve had friends over for dinner. In the last 3 months we’ve cooked 36 new meals! About once a month we’ll get a recipe that we just don’t like. When it hasn’t worked out it is usually because either we just don’t like the recipe (I’m not a huge fan of certain ingredients) or else it has been human error. Considering how many new recipes we’ve tried I’m genuinely surprised how much I like the food.

Meals are $9.99 per person with free shipping. If you’d like to give them a try, right now they’re offering the two free meals to the first 100 readers who sign up. Check out their video below and make sure you click through for the Crispy Fish Taco recipe we tried this week!

Crispy Fish Tacos

Makes 2 Servings
About 700 Calories Per Serving

Ingredients: 2 Cod Fillets, 6 White Corn Tortillas, 2 Cloves Garlic, 2 Limes, 1 Avocado, 1 Pound Red Cabbage, 1 Red Onion, ¾ Pound Tomatillos, 1 Large Bunch Cilantro

1. Prepare the Ingredients: Wash and dry the fresh produce. Peel and mince the garlic. Pat the fish fillets dry and cut into 6 pieces; coat the fish pieces with the spice blend. Using a peeler, remove the green rind of 1 of the limes, avoiding the white pitch; mince the rind to get 2 tablespoons of zest. Quarter both limes. Roughly chop the cilantro leaves and stems. Cut out and discard the core of the cabbage; thinly slice the leaves. Peel and cut the onion in half; small dice one half and thinly slice the other. Remove and discard the papery skins of the tomatillos; medium dice the tomatillos. Thinly slice the radishes into rounds; place the rounds in a bowl of ice water.

2. Make the Salsa Verde: In a medium pot, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium until hot. Add the garlic and diced red onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the tomatillos and season with salt and pepper. Cook, smashing the tomatillos with a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened and saucy. Remove from heat. Add the lime zest, half the cilantro and the juice of 3 lime wedges; season with salt and pepper to take.

3. Make the Slaw: While the salsa verde cooks, place the cabbage in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add the sliced red onion, the juice of 3 lime wedges and all but a pinch of the remaining cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste; toss gently to coat.

4. Mash the Avocado: While the salsa verde continues to cook, cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Using a spoon, scoop the avocado out of the peel and into a medium bowl; discard the peel. Using a fork, mash the avocado until smooth. Add the juice of the remaining lime wedges; season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Cook the Fish: In a medium pan (nonstick, if you have one), heat a thin layer of olive oil on medium-high until very hot. When the oil is hot enough that the fish immediately sizzles when added to the pan, add the marinated fish and cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and immediately season with salt. Carefully wipe out the pan.

6. Warm the Tortillas & Plate Your Dish: In the same pan, working in batches, warm the tortillas on medium heat for 20 to 30 seconds per side, or until soft and pliable. To plate your dish, fill each warmed tortilla with some of the mashed avocado, a piece of cooked fish, salsa verde and slaw. Garnish each taco with the radish rounds (draining before adding) and remaining cilantro. Serve with the remaining slaw on the side. Enjoy!

This post is sponsored by Blue Apron. 

Photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day