Blue Apron: Meal #1 (3-Chile Beef Chili)

[thistlechaser]

3-Chile Beef Chili recipe.

As I posted about before, Blue Apron is a service that sends you everything you need to cook. Alas they don't send chopped garlic, instead sending you a head. Pain to do all the chopping yourself! Three meals a week, you get no choice in the meals.

Unfortunately this first week was a bad week for me meal-wise. I don't like spicy stuff, and all three had peppers in them. Also, they looked hard! But Blue Apron claims it takes 30 minutes to make, so we'll see.

The chili took me almost an hour to make, though 12 minutes of that was letting it simmer, which gave me a chance to clean the kitchen up.

Seeing how even Taco Bell's plastic cheese is too spicy for me (and anything else on their menu is spicy to the point where I can't eat it at all), I left out one of the three chiles (the one for "medium heat") and used only half of the other two. I used a very very small fraction of the spice blend. (If my recipe card had had a list of what was in those spices like the online version does, I might have used more.)

Turns out the flavor is actually quite nice. However, one reason I wanted to start with this one is that I've never had beans before (I know, I know) and I really wanted to try them. The texture is odd, but I could sort of handle that. The issue was the size/shape of them and how they could move around whole in my mouth. It was freaky and weird and I didn't like it at all. It doesn't for a moment help that I'm currently marathoning Hannibal and he eats the organs of people (and feeds them to others) and these look like little organs. Ugh!

I also tried avocado for the first time (horrible Californian that I am), I think I liked it? I didn't try it straight, just as part of the chili. There was very little I could use from the one they sent though (I think). I think it must be supposed to be green, but this one was mostly brown inside. I should have tried it straight, but I was having both beans and chili for the first time ever, and I couldn't bring myself to try another new thing.

If they send this again, I'll leave out the beans. The flavor is nice (I can't believe I'm saying that about something I made!), but I can't cope with the beans. :/ I think I might save some to try as lunch tomorrow, maybe sitting in the fridge overnight will change the texture. Or maybe mashing them up would work...

Comments

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

I am not a big fan of beans either, and find that mashing them up does help. And melting some cheese on top. Cheese makes everything better. XD You can use mashed chili beans as a dip for chips too.

It is good to try new foods!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah! Even though the cheese was pepper jack (thus I assume spicy) it was a nice addition. I think I'll try mashing them when I reheat it tomorrow.

It sure did make a lot of chili! Usually meals are for two, though this one said three servings -- I could easily get four if I had wanted to eat it all.

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have a ton of avocados, it is one of my go-to fat sources. It might take a little experimentation to get the right level of ripeness... if you want a little extra insurance, get an extra one at the store, and start with the softer one, then you can toss it and reach for the less-ripe one if it's brown inside.

Different varieties ripen in different ways... I usually get Hass avocados and they start off green and go to a dark almost-black color when ripe. If you know it's ripe and you don't want to eat it yet, that's the time to move it from the counter to the fridge.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I suspect this one was (a lot) worse for wear for having traveled in a big box full of ice and a couple cans. I think it got kind of dinged up.

Will do, if/when I try them again! Thanks!

[hamsterwoman]

I also tried avocado for the first time (horrible Californian that I am),

Aww! :) It took us a little while, after we came to California, to figure out how to eat avocados. After experimenting with putting it in stuff, I'm now a big fan of just eating it sliced or straight out of the shell (with a spoon), seasoned with a little bit of salt. But it should be a creamy green rather than brown inside, so it's probably just as well you didn't try this particular one :)

and these look like little organs. Ugh!

I like beans a lot, but they totally do look like little organs :P

Glad the flavor came out good despite the spiciness / weird texture / organ resemblance issues, and hope the next couple of meals are still tasty but less problematic!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try it again sometime. So many people like it! I haven't heard of one person not liking it.

One of the next ones should be better (a chicken breast... with pepper pesto), the other I'm a whole lot less confident about (whole wheat pasta with lots of veggies). Will post as I try them! :)

[kelen.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I so can't imagine finding pepper jack too spicy. Just throws into perspective how different our diets are. :) I regularly throw wasabe into meals for the smokey flavor it gives. There are all kinds of peppers and chilies in this house. My husband and I love spicy. (Flavorful spicy, not merely hot.)

But Ani Mama is totally right! Trying new things is fun! Changing recipes to suit your tastes is good too.

As for eating chili I tend to put chedder on it, and crackers. Not necessarily good for a low carb diet, but the crackers can help dull the spicy effect.

Beans are a pain in the butt to make. Not difficult, just a long time. Like soaking them for 8-12 hours before you even get to cook them. Normally I crock pot because then I don't have to monitor a cooking pot for 3-5 hours. The things sure taste great though! We had to cut the beans when we switched diets, so we don't get much of them anymore.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

These beans came out of a can. I suppose ones made the long way would be a lot better?

I'm actually not sure it was spicy, but I saw little pieces of pepper in it (and there's pepper in the name!) so I assumed. :P

[kelen.livejournal.com]

There are sweet peppers and spicy ones, so you can't always assume. :) Like the ones you find at the grocery story (Green peppers, or maybe bell peppers? Not certain of their official name.) aren't spicy at all.

If it's chili though I'd assume there'd be spicy stuff in it though, so you did the right thing.

As for beans, the canned stuff just means they did the soaking and cooking part for you, but without any flavoring. We use canned beans for chili too. I only cook them when they are a meal to themselves. Otherwise it's way too much work, and they'd be mush before you were done recooking them with chili.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah! Thanks for the beans info.

I think they're called bell peppers? Unless there's another mild green kind as well (which there very well could be!).

[kelen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think Bell Pepper is right, but damn if I remember. :) There are also red and yellow and orange versions of these, so you should try those. They all look the same, just different color. They all taste about the same to me, so..

Mark loves these peppers. He slices them up and eats them with some Italian dressing as a snack. I use them in many of our meals, but don't eat them raw because I don't like the texture.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

If I remember cooking shows correctly, the three taste the same because they are the same -- they're just different stages of ripeness of the same pepper. Red is fully ripe, which is why it tastes the best to most people (and green unripe/generally liked the least).

[kelen.livejournal.com]

Hee! Then you know more about them than I do. I'll have to try the red ones, because the green texture is bleh. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I watch endless cooking shows, so I tend to have knowledge even though I don't have the skill to apply it.

Hope you like the red ones better!

[juliansinger.livejournal.com]

Yah, avocadoes're supposed to be green, sooo, yes.

I don't like kidney beans, myself. Texture's awful, for me. Annnd since I've just started Hannibal myself, I will continue not liking them, yes. Cough.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oooh, hope you're enjoying Hannibal! For me, the quality is remaining really high (I'm almost caught up, just watched ep 3 of season 2, so I'm three eps behind as of tonight's).

Don't they look so disturbing after watching that? I didn't realize as I was cooking them, but as I stared down into my bowl...

[ashmedai.livejournal.com]

I used to hate beans because of the texture, but I've gotten to really like them a lot. I'd try mashing them up if the texture bothers you in the chili; they'll absorb a bit of the spiciness and will add a great creamy texture.

Hm, no, avocado really shouldn't be brown inside. Sounds like you got an overly-ripe one.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

When I heat up the leftovers for lunch, I'm going to try mashing them up. They seem to have a skin on them, so I'm not sure how well that will work, but we'll see!

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Well, they are called kidney beans... ;p

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Very fittingly named!

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

My favorite way to cook beans is super easy, and I use it as a side dish. I think it would help you get over the AAAAH LITTLE ORGANS, since they are mashed!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/refried-beans-without-the-refry/

I am sad that you didn't get the awesome recipes like the steak tacos I got when I subscribed. Hopefully you will get something like them soon!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks for the link! That looks interesting!

I think next week looks better. Of the six recipes, I could be sent five (one is fish), and four of them I'd be perfectly happy with (watch me get sent the one single one I wouldn't like at all!).

[spike7451.livejournal.com]

I'd let them know they should pack their avocadoes better, it must have been bashed around a bit or was already too ripe when they sent it.

I have to say I love beans in my chili but it would be worth trying it again without the beans to see what you think.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think packing it with cans and such was a bad decision on their part.

I think I would enjoy it a lot without the beans! Next time.