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Pan-Seared Cod with Curried Basmati Rice, Snow Peas & Mint

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Thanks to my lovely friend Laetitia at French Twist D.C., I recently got a free Blue Apron meal box delivered. It was a welcome treat after returning from a week long family vacation that left me exhausted and not wanting to go anywhere near a grocery store.

This took all the work out and left me with a pre-measured meal for two that was pretty easy to whip together, healthy, and tasted good to boot.

One of my favorite things about this service is the fact that everything is in one place on the large, glossy recipe card. You can get the printable recipe for this cod at Blue Apron, or look below.

I usually don’t like snow peas because they are stringy and tough, but these were snappy and fresh tasting. I had never thought of using lime zest in this way before and was glad I did. I do think it’s a bit wasteful with a lot of extra (mostly recyclable) packaging, including the ice packs, but it is a nice occasional treat to come home and have the grocery shopping and meal planning already done!

I can’t wait to try my other two meals this week: Turkey Steam Buns with Quick Cucumber-Radish Kimchi and Seared Pork with Sautéed Spinach & Smashed Potatoes.

Singaporean Curried Vegetable Noodles

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I got to take a mini trip around the world with Tara’s Multicultural Table. Tara actually has a similar background to me, including Filipino, Japanese, German, and the Southern United States. Her passion for different cultures through food is apparent through her delicious blog. Looking through her recipe index was painful — there were so many things that I wanted to make, how could I choose between Northern Thai Curry, Mango Cinnamon Basil Smoothie, Afghani Kebab with Gravy, Macarons with Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling, Yaki Udon, Cong You Bing (Scallion Pancakes), or Sichuan Wontons in Chili Sauce.

My decision was made instantly easier when I spotted her recipe for Curried Vegetable Noodles.

One of our favorite dishes to get when we order takeout or visit the local dim sum restaurant is Singaporean Curry Noodles. It has the perfect level of spiciness (flavor, not heat) and the little nuggets of meat and vegetables break up the monotony of the noodles. I was a bit lazy and used some stir fry vegetables and packaged sauce from Trader Joe’s, but I counter-acted that laziness by topping the noodles with some home-grown Thai Basil.

To make it closer to the takeout version, throw some chicken, pork, or shrimp in with the noodles. Or, as my fiancé suggested, the addition of some egg would add a nice amount of protein.

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Fast & Easy Black Bean Soup

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For some reason I don’t make too many soups. Something about them just seems daunting. This soup is fast, easy, and healthy. The best part is that it only uses one pot and one blender (or food processor). If you have an immersion blender, then this is truly a one-pot meal.

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I’ve made this soup several times in the past month and it’s easy to customize. It’s also pretty cheap to make, especially if you stretch it by adding some rice or quinoa to it. I’ve also added frozen corn and peas to it to add some more nutritional value. As it is, it’s under 500 calories per warm, hearty, bowl.

The version pictured here has vegan chorizo in it instead of dried chorizo, and is topped with some chopped gouda and sesame seeds.

Grilled Barbeque Chicken Pizza

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My second pair-up with The Secret Recipe Club is Traci from Burnt Apple. There were a few different recipes I was interested in, particularly the German Chocolate Cake Cookies or Bobby Flay’s German Chocolate Cake, but somehow I steered myself away from the sweets and landed on Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza.

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This recipe is incredibly easy and adaptable. It is a great snack to whip up for the game(s) that are starting up this fall!

But, like Traci says, choose a barbeque sauce that you like because it is a major player on the palette. I had a pulled pork and bbq pizza yesterday at a local restaurant and the sauce killed the otherwise crunchy crust and gooey cheese.

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Secret Recipe Club

Pork Souvlaki with Tzatziki

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I got the idea for this recipe from Serious Eats. This recipe “passes”, and gets to be written in the real Recipe book!

The main part that I kept over-looking was the “marinate over-night” part, so just to let you know, you need to marinate this over night!!! Okay, now that that’s over. This was served with red lentils cooked in chicken broth with some sprouts and roasted red pepper and toasted naan. Sounds good, right? The lentils were bad, but everything else was delicious!