Grains of Paradise-Crusted Steak & Mashed Plantains from Blue Apron Reviewed

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Three of my favorite items I've tasted from Blue Apron are back! Plantains, kale, and steak  What an incredible meal that I was really looking forward do, and really enjoyed. The cut of steak was a little fatty for me, and something about the steaks that Blue Apron sends means they're a little “grainy”, which I'm not into. Maybe I just don't know enough about steaks and am scoffing at a great cut of meat, but the texture just wasn't what I was looking for.

Despite that, plantains are awesome mashed (first time having them like this), and pan fried kale is a new staple in my life.

Don't know what grains of paradise are? There's what they look like. But to be honest I don't exactly what what they taste like. They sound awesome and fancy for sure, but I'm not convinced they actually added any flavor or depth to the steak.

There's not much to say about how to cook the plantains other than to cut and boil them, then mash like you would potatoes. They come out a little drier than creamy potatoes, but are a good substitute if you don't want those white starches, or you just want to mix things up with a little sweetness.

Plantains are a perfect blend of sweet and savory, and can be very filling! Last time I had them was in another Blue Apron recipe that featured plantain chips.

LOL all this time spent making and photographing the nutty ginger topping, and I forgot to use it for the final photo. Oh well, it was very tasty, and I sprinkled quite a bit on my steak after the photo shoot.

I'm not sure the lime rind actually added much flavor depth to the mashed plantains, though I did use less than recommended. There was definitely a tartness due to the lime juice, but you could probably cut back on some cooking time by skipping the rind. It takes a big effort to peel or grate without getting the pith!

Ahhh, so much work to get the steak looking just right for the photo, and I forgot the nut/ginger topping. Bummer. Still looks tasty though. This cut of steak was a little fatty. I enjoyed it, and am not afraid of eating fat, but it doesn't look great in the picture. I guess I could have cut it off.

This plating looks a little pitiful, but I couldn't get enough plantains under the steak without using all of them! I tried to divide everything into two parts to get an even representation of what you get with a Blue Apron meal. This is about half of a plantain mashed up (maybe a little more). I could have easily eaten a whole one!

I wasn't so hot on the sour flavor from the lime added to the final dish. If it were me, I'd just use salt and pepper next time.