blue apron: huevos rancheros quesadillas;

Blue apron is the second order-by-meal service that I’ve used, the first being hello fresh.  Feel free to revisit the recipe for dijon walnut salmon and couscous for my list of pros/cons on hello fresh.  At some point I will compile a nice list about all the different services, but I’m keeping with the past format for now.

Pros

• As compared to hello fresh, I like the recipes more.  They seem a little more exotic, with an occasional ingredient that I wouldn’t have probably picked up otherwise.  I relish the opportunity to be nudged out of my comfort zone without being overwhelmed by new ingredients, and while feeling like if I love the recipe, the “new” ingredients would be possible to find on my own.  I even considered not cancelling my subscription after the initial week because next week’s recipes looked so good too!  Peruvian chicken and Maryland cod cakes…good thing I snagged the recipes to try for you all later!

Cons

• As compared to hello fresh, the ingredients came individually wrapped, and all in tact, but with no delineation by recipe.  Perhaps if I had time to sort the ingredients when putting them into the fridge, this would have been less of an issue, but we had company when the package arrived, and also a fairly full fridge so I ended up stuffing them wherever there was room.  Considering that part of the selling point of this service is convenience, I found hello fresh’s packaging each recipe into individual boxes much more convenient.

As for the recipe itself, this was definitely a fun, kind of breakfast take on a quesadilla!  I wouldn’t classify this as a simple recipe, because there are so many working parts that go on in tandem.  T and I worked really well together to get this on the table in a timely manner, but I did want to call this out because when you think “quesadilla”, you generally think “quick”.  I think this recipe would have definitely taken longer if it was just me by myself, and I’ve adjusted the time on the recipe card accordingly.  If you do choose to make it by yourself, then I can’t stress enough the mise en place, or chopping up all your ingredients prior to cooking.  It will save you a big headache and some overcooked food!

Case and point on timing comes down to frying the eggs.  Even though it’s simple and not complicated, you do need to pay attention to the egg, and if you miss the timing, then you’ll get a harder egg like T got, because we got distracted with other things and let it cook a little too long.  (He was relegated to the worse egg because mine need to be picture perfect!)  I will throw in that this is a nice vegetarian meal, that still is filling and hearty!

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