Tonight, I made my fifth Blue Apron Meal, Seared Chicken and Mashed Potatoes with Maple Glazed Carrots and Pan Sauce. and this was, without a doubt, the most delicious meal yet. I seriously could have licked the plate.  This recipe took about 40 minutes all together, including prep time. Boiling the water for the potatoes gave me just enough time to let the dog out, change into sweats and pour myself a tall glass of wine. Perfect!

Who would have thought chicken, mashed potatoes, and carrots could be so scrumptious? These staples are already in our regular dinner rotation, but the sauces and quality of ingredients really made ALL the difference. I’m also finding myself paying much more attention to cutting and plating, things I really didn’t  give much consideration before. (Maybe that’s because I’m taking pictures as I go!!)

I considered myself a pretty avid cooker prior to beginning Blue Apron, but I’m definitely learning a lot more about flavor, what ingredients go together, and that with good quality ingredients, simple is better. Seriously, the chicken itself was just seasoned with salt and pepper and was finger-lickin good! I saved the second portion for lunch and it literally pained me to put it in the Tupperware.

All in all, Blue Apron continues to impress me. This recipe is something I could definitely replicate on my own. In reading other’s reviews, the only real drawbacks I’ve seen is that people feel there’s a lot of prep work and lots of small, tedious ingredients. I made sure to take a picture of the 3 small “knick knacks” (as they call it) included with this order. Totally doable, AND there’s NO waste with Blue Apron, like there would be if I bought an entire jar of maple syrup for one recipe, for example. I think I’ll sign up for another week! 🙂

As my grandma would say, Mangia!

Disclaimer: I am not compensated by Blue Apron in any way, I just love to cook!