This is a review of a Blue Apron meal shipment that I received complimentary. These are my personal opinions and may not reflect the opinions of Blue Apron. Enjoy! The post does contain affiliate links. Also each photo was taken with my Motorola Moto E XT1526 phone.
The second day of eating Blue Apron meals (here is what i ate day 1), I decided to try out the Fresh Pimento Cheeseburger with Collard Greens and Carrot slaw. My wife was super excited to try this burger. We ate it for lunch instead of dinner and it was enough food to fill us up.
Preconceived Notions
Collard greens have never really appealed to me to try. Most of the pictures I have seen of them cooked don't look visually appealing - ugly drab green color. I haven't cooked greens that I really like. Kale I don't like cooked, prefer to just eat the baby stuff in a salad. Same with chard or mustard green. This is my first time having a Pimento cheese. I do want to give them points for having us make our own Pimento cheese. It's easier to understand what something is if you have made it yourself. When someone asks, "Hey what is Pimento cheese?". You can say, "well it's cheddar cheese with peppers, mayo, and spices. I made it myself once and I can show you how to make it too."
Want to learn the history of Pimento cheese. Check out this story from Serious Eats.
The recipe also doesn't call for us of ketchup. What? How can I have a burger without ketchup? More on that later.
Here is the ingredient list. For the full recipes and instructions with plenty of photos, visit Blue Apron's website.
10 Ounces Ground Beef
2 Sesame Seed Buns
2 Ounces Cheddar Cheese
1 Carrot
Β½ Bunch Collard Greens
2 Ounces Sweet PiquantΓ© Peppers
1 Shallot
1 Tablespoon Champagne Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise
1 Teaspoon Pimento Cheese Spice Blend (Garlic Powder, Mustard Powder & Sugar)
What I Liked About This Recipe
The burger was juicy! I love the ground beef they selected for this meal. It contained a good amount of fat. What meat lover doesn't love a juicy burger. I was aiming for just about medium with my burger, which worked to between 3 to 4 minutes per side. I tried to form the patties so that they were thinner as I prefer to have more charring on the outside - not a thick burger fan.
The pimento cheese kind of tricks you into thinking there is ketchup on your burger. I attribute that to the vinegar that is in the Pimento cheese as ketchup contains vinegar. Plus the sweetness that the pepper provides. And it is red, so your mind thinks ketchup.
I have to admit the collards surprise me. The recipe called for you to make a slaw with them and some carrots. It worked so well. Slicing the greens into strips makes it cook faster. The flavor reminded me for cabbage or brussel sprouts, which makes sense as they are in the same botanical family - brassica or sometimes called cole crops. The carrots added enough sweetness to balance out the bitterness of the collards. I would make this again in a heartbeat. Very, very impressed!
I liked that this was a very Southern dish that I am sure you could find in many a restaurant in the Deep South. Pimento cheese and collard greens are very popular. I love having a meal that is a regional theme. Whenever I travel I try to find what food is popular in that area. this past September, I visited Montana and needed to get a hold of everything that had huckleberries in it as that is what is popular in Montana.
What I Didn't Like About This Recipe
The following is not really a problem with the recipe just an ingredient. The cheddar cheese that we got to grate was long and thin, which makes it hard to grate without grating your fingers as well. What I did to prevent injury was to break the cheese in half, stack the halves on top of each other, and then grate. Gave me more to hold onto. I do want to keep them props for not just sending pre-shredded cheese. I have all been all about grating your own cheese since the beginning of this blog. And recently I heard some election humor that it is "time to make America grate again". Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!
What I Might Do Differently
Honestly, not a whole lot. Maybe try some fresh garlic in the pimento cheese, or even roasted garlic. This was a well put together recipe for a well balanced meal. On a side note, I am also interested in looking out for the peppers in stores. I want to see what other ways I might be able to use them. This is the beauty of the Blue Apron service - you are introduced to ingredients you may not have thought about before. I knew that his peppers existed just never though much about them.
If Offered, Would I Select this Meal Again
Oh for sure. My wife just loved the burger in the finger licking way. A lot of people feel the same way. If you look at the comments on the Blue Apron website for this recipe, they are pretty raving.
kate
agreed on the cheese they sent - what a pain! i ended up getting a block of cheese from my fridge and shredding that instead. can't have too much cheese.
Eric Samuelson
I was going to do the same thing but for review sake I wanted to do it exactly as said with the ingredients they provided.