Last week I realized that I still had referral credit from Home Chef, and since they made it so easy to un-pause my account, I decided to take advantage of those funds. Their food is just so good.

As with last time, the majority of the ingredients for each dish were bundled together in a plastic bag.  The larger ingredients – the romaine lettuce for the salad and the naan for the pizzas – were left loose.

Dish 1: Baja Fish Tacos with Sriracha slaw and pickled onion

Thursday, May 25, 2017 – The Baja Fish Tacos with Sriracha slaw and pickled onion were great. I loved the lightly pickled onions, and the tilapia didn’t have that horrible bottom feeder taste that I hate (and associate with food poisoning after an unfortunate experience about a decade ago).   The onions were pickled in lime juice and a little salt for about 10 minutes.  It helped to cut the sharpness of the onion, and it added a little acid to bring out the flavor of the fish.  The fish was battered and shallow fried in vegetable oil.

I never had Sriracha slaw before.  It was pretty much shredded cabbage with mayo and Sriracha.  It was ok, but I’m not completely sold on it since I prefer my slaw to be a little lighter.  (I generally cut the mayo with milk, vinegar, salt, and a touch of sugar).  On the other hand, the slaw almost served the role of tartar sauce, hence why I’m so torn about it.  On its own, it was a bit too heavy for me, but with the dish, it was a nice addition.

Dish 2: Chicken Chopped Salad with creamy avocado dressing, blue cheese, and smoked almonds

Friday, May 26, 2017 – TheChicken Chopped Salad with creamy avocado dressing, blue cheese, and smoked almonds was lovely, but it needed a touch more acid in the avocado dressing. I’m also not entirely convinced that blue cheese and avocado work together.  Still, it was good enough that I couldn’t stop thinking about it and ended up having the second portion for breakfast the next morning.  If I make this again, I’ll probably leave off the blue cheese or avocado dressing.  I will however be making the avocado dressing again.  It was lovely.

I also realized that it’s the first time in forever that I cooked chicken in my apartment. Weird.

Dish 3: Neapolitan Pizza Margherita with fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic dressed arugula

Saturday, May 27 – My final dish from Home Chef: Neapolitan Pizza Margherita with fresh mozzarella, basil, and balsamic dressed arugula. I had never thought of making pizza on naan bread, but aside from the naan cracking in transit, it worked out quite well. They recommended toasting the naan before assembling the pizza which kept it from getting soggy. I missed the alarm going off, so it spent a little too much time in the oven during this early stage, and thus after the pizza was fully assembled, I had to pull it from the oven before the cheese started to brown to prevent the crust from burning. Still, this was an excellent, quick pizza made with great ingredients. I also loved the arugula salad. The sweet and sour notes of the balsamic contrasted beautifully with the bitter greens.