Seared Pork Chops & Miso-Glazed Chicken Wings with Blue Apron

I hope y’all had a great Father’s Day weekend! We’re in full swing summer mode and it’s getting hotter and hotter! Houston summers are brutal with the heat and humidity, so there’s lots of pool time and looking for activities we can do inside with AC.  We get outside for early mornings or evenings, but unless there’s water involved, it’s too hot to be outside in the daytime for long!  #heatstroke
Our weekly meal prep is still in full effect, but after trying Blue Apron a couple months ago, we (my husband especially) were looking forward to doing it again.  Thank you Blue Apron for sponsoring this post!  We genuinely enjoy this service! As a courtesy to you, Blue Apron is also offering the first 25 readers 3 free meals on their first order!  Click here for the offer. ðŸ™‚

Having fresh ingredients delivered right to our door (no added grocery store trip) with 3 different chef-designed recipes is a fun surprise and feels like a gift to not have to think about what to cook.  For us, it’s exciting to eat something new and different than our same old meals and we don’t have to haul the baby to a restaurant to do it.  It’s still most convenient for us to cook at home instead of going out and we like cooking!  

We opted for the 2-Person plan as opposed to the family plan because our son is such a picky eater.   The portions are perfect for us and there’s no wasted food.  This time, we got three meals that were all winners!  1) Seared Pork Chops with Sauteed Kale & Farro Salad; 2) Spicy Miso-Glazed Chicken Wings with Purple Rice & Zucchini Salad; and 3) Steakhouse Salmon with Thyme-Seasoned Potatoes, Green Beans and Mushrooms. 
Last Friday afternoon, after a trip to the pool with my mom and nieces and while James was at basketball camp, we made one of the meals.  I thought cooking together would be a fun thing for the girls and I to do together and since my husband was working from home that day, he got to eat the food too.
I let the girls choose which meal we made and thought for sure they’d go for the chicken wings, but they both said they love pork chops!  
Seared Pork Chops & Fig Compote
with Sauteed Kale & Farro Salad

I know I’m biased, but my nieces are the cutest!!  They were eager to help, so I got them each a cutting board (but I did any necessary chopping) and a stool so they could reach the counter. 

I didn’t even realize Blue Apron offered an online market with cooking tools, cookware, wine, and pantry items.  I felt all fancy using these glass prep bowls to put my mise in place together.  There’s 10 of them and varying sizes, which come in super handy.  They are perfect for arranging all the ingredients and then also serve as mixing bowls.  What I really want is the electric knife sharpener

One thing about these recipes that might go without saying, but for people like me who don’t often read carefully, it is best to read through the entire recipe first and then begin.  Above, that should be tarragon instead of thyme!  I caught my mistake before we used it in the recipe though! 
Darling Niece #2 below!  I let them do every step in the recipe that was safe and they did so good! Even if it’s messier or a little more time consuming, getting kids in the kitchen is a great activity to do together.  I was also getting them to help read the directions, so I felt good about encouraging their reading too. 
The produce is super fresh and just the right amount. 
I’ve paired apples and pork chops together before, but never pork chops and figs.  I’ve never even had a real fig like this in my house! I love getting these new ingredients and might not otherwise try them if they weren’t hand-delivered.  They girls tasted the figs and said they tasted like jelly. 😉 
They wanted to eat the lemons straight up!  #goforit  See there, I found the tarragon!
The pork chops came with their own seasoning packet, again just enough so you don’t buy a whole bottle that goes bad before you can use it all. 
Another item I got from the Blue Apron market is this saute pan. It’s by Scanpan and a top of the line nonstick, heavy duty, environmentally sound (100% recycled aluminium body and stainless steel handle) 11″ fry pan.  Am I the only one that gets giddy about how cookware feels in your hand? This one feels like luxury.  And it cooks like a charm- heats up super fast and evenly and is also easy to clean.  

The compote complimented the pork chops perfectly. 

You just mix the chopped figs, thyme, lemon and salt and pepper together and sautee it in the pan for a few minutes.

Then we cooked the kale until it was wilted. 

I’ve also never made farro before, and they included creme fraiche to go with it, which was so delicious! 
The girls weren’t sure they’d like the kale, so we put it on the side, and they both agreed to try it.  One liked it and one didn’t.  Not surprising at this age.  I ended up eating the majority of it and I let them share the rest of the meal, leaving the second one for my happy hubby. 

This post is long already, so I’ll be quick with the chicken wing recipe, which was also so, so good!

Spicy Miso-Glazed Chicken Wings 
with Purple Rice & Zucchini Salad

Gah!  Don’t you want to dive right into those wings?!  The spicy miso glaze was yummy!  And again, something I don’t think I’d make had those ingredients and recipe not shown up on my doorstep.  I’d never even heard of purple rice! 
This recipe was great for Saturday evening after a long day because it was quick and simple.  
See how handy those bowls are?!  
I think the Blue Apron zucchini and cucumber are fresher than our bananas! 
That purple rice and zucchini salad was different, but very tasty, with the right amount of salt and pepper. 
Our favorite were the wings though. 
If you saw my hubby and I cooking this meal together on snapchat (@honeywerehome) you know he got a little testy when he saw I’d taken all the drumettes. 
#justforthepicturebabe 😉 #youcanhavesometoo!
Definitely finger lickin’ good! 
try BLUE APRON for FREE

As a courtesy to my readers, Blue Apron is offering the first 25 readers 3 free meals on their first order!  Click here for the offer. ðŸ™‚

__________________
keep in touch! 

You Might Also Like

Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

4 Comments

  1. I have been looking at blue apron for a while and this offer just sealed the deal 🙂 thank you! i just signed up and looking forward to the yummy meals!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *