My Week with HelloFresh

After my venture into the world of Blue Apron, I succumbed to trying HelloFresh. I was having way too much fun! I'd learned several new dishes with Blue Apron, and I was hungry for what HelloFresh could teach me. And feed me.

My first two recipes were Lobster Ravioli and Shrimp with Tomatoes and Tarragon Cream Sauce and Mushroom Chicken Gravy over Couscous with Lemony Arugula.

First Impressions: My first impressions of HelloFresh were a wild ride. I was very impressed upon seeing the menu. The first two weeks of HelloFresh offered a lot more recipes I wanted to try than the first two weeks of Blue Apron did. However, I was less impressed when I realized that two of the four recipes I selected were "premium," meaning that I had to pay $10 extra to try them. (Both were seafood-based. Other premium recipes offered by HelloFresh on other weeks offer other luxury proteins like duck.) I was annoyed that the best recipes cost extra money when it's already REALLY EXPENSIVE. Whatever. With my super steep discount, I could afford $10 extra a week. Even if it was totally irritating.

Then my box came. My box had been attacked by a bear, apparently.

When I unpacked the box, I was annoyed again because there was like double the amount of packaging that had been in my Blue Apron boxes. So I had to throw away/recycle a ton of stuff. But unlike with Blue Apron, the ingredients came pre-divided by recipe, and that was nice.

Because fish tends to spoil more quickly, I started with the Lobster Ravioli and Shrimp with Tomatoes and Tarragon Cream Sauce.

You'll notice that the ravioli came pre-prepared. I guess that's to be expected since it is lobster ravioli. But that did disappoint me a little. I want to learn new skills here!

I began to prepare the veggies and heat the water for the ravioli. As I began the recipe, I noticed that it was kind of difficult to follow. The writing was a little confusing; a lot of steps had to happen simultaneously, but it wasn't clear that they were happening simultaneously until you read through it a few times. So I felt rushed, rushed, rushed as I jumped from chopping tarragon to cooking tomatoes to straining ravioli to rinsing shrimp.

The cream sauce recipe was very simple to the point of being ingenious. It was just grape tomatoes, a few ounces of sour cream, a bit of butter, the tarragon, salt and pepper, and shrimp. (The recipe called for using only a tablespoon of tarragon and adding it gradually to be sure you liked it, but I just added it all in.) Soon (within just thirty-five minutes) everything was ready!

The Verdict: The sauce was delicious! I usually take my pasta with a healthy heap of Parmesan, but this recipe didn't need it. I also thought that the amount of tarragon was perfect. (Though tarragon does taste slightly of black licorice, which I love but which most people don't. So you may not agree with my assessment if you tried it.)

The ravioli, on the other hand, was nothing special. I've had lobster ravioli in New York and at Olive Garden, and both times it was far better than the HelloFresh ravioli. This wasn't bad, just...a little tasteless. Not very lobster-y. What exactly did I pay $10 extra for? In any case, there was definitely enough for three filling meals.

What I'd Do Differently: This recipe would be simple to replicate, except for the lobster ravioli. That's okay, though—next time I'll just use my grocery store pasta of choice, mushroom agnolotti.

A few days later, I prepared the Mushroom Chicken Gravy over Couscous with Lemony Arugula.

I've never cooked with fresh thyme before, so that was exciting. I've also never made couscous before except from a box, and it was always the tiny, gritty kind with lots of spices. This recipe called for Israeli couscous, a fluffy pearl-like couscous that apparently was created by enterprising food people to combat a rice shortage in Israel some time ago.

Also...arugula. Something else I've not only never cooked but rarely eaten. I was very suspicious of the arugula. The recipe called for washing it and tossing it uncooked with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice. However, I remained unsure. I was afraid  that when my children ask me on my deathbed what my greatest regret is, I will say, "Allowing HelloFresh to convince me that tossing uncooked arugula with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice would actually make it edible."

Once again, the recipe was a little jumbled and everything was happening simultaneously, making me feel a little frantic as I prepared the produce, cooked the couscous, seared the chicken, tossed the arugula, moved the chicken to the oven, and made a pan gravy from the fond, the mushrooms, the garlic, the chicken stock concentrate, the thyme sprigs, the mustard, the sour cream, some water, and some salt and pepper.

I cannot stress how delicious this smelled while cooking! The scent of fresh thyme was so heavenly! When everything was done, I plated it right up with a bit of reserved thyme and a quarter lemon, which I squeezed over the chicken, gravy, and couscous.

The Verdict: This. Was. Incredible. The chicken was juicy and tender, the mushroom gravy was super flavorful, and the unseasoned couscous was a needed contrast to the rich flavors of the gravy and the lemon juice. The arugula, sadly, was as I feared: arugula that was still arugula, lemony or no. I ended up eating a few pieces per serving and tossing the rest.

I was glad that this recipe was so delicious and that it taught me some new things. It was pretty easy and quick, too, taking only fifty minutes from prep to plate. The only negative was that this was the first subscription box meal that actually was only sufficient for two servings. Except for the arugula. There were more than two servings of arugula. There was enough arugula to feed a small army of people who only eat arugula.

What I'd Do Differently: Nothing! Okay, I wouldn't serve lemony arugula as one of my side dishes, but everything else about this meal was magnifique.

So ends my first week of HelloFresh! After finishing this delight, I left for New York City with my second HelloFresh week scheduled for my return. I'll tell you how my second week measured up, but not before the tale of my vacation. Stay tuned!