Imperfect Inspiration

I've been in a cooking slump lately. No time... no energy... but mainly, no inspiration. Then, a friend of mine posted about a service I'd never heard of before - Imperfect Produce. They source produce that would otherwise be wasted because it doesn't meet grocery store standards (or it's just surplus), and deliver it to your door for 30-50% less than retail prices.

I was intrigued.

I asked for her referral link and went to the site to see if they delivered in my area. Sure enough, they did. Reading through the site, I got more and more excited. I have to admit, I have not been great about keeping fresh produce in the kitchen lately, so I figured this would force me to use whatever came before it went bad. I signed up for one medium box of mixed fruit and veggies, delivered once a week. Our delivery day is Wednesdays, so I customized my box and waited.

It was torture.

Delivery day finally arrived. I was out of the house, but I received a text saying the driver was nearing my house. I start heading home. I get another text saying the box had been delivered. I start driving faster. I pull up to the house, dash to the porch, and grab my box with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning (even though I knew exactly what was in it... lol!).

Holy mackerel... isn't it beautiful???

The first meal I made was pork chops with wild mushroom, herbes de province, and marsala sauce, black truffle oil mashed potatoes, and buttered peas (because I forgot to grab asparagus when I was at the store). Absolutely heavenly. Items used from IP box- organic shitake mushrooms, Italian parsley, potatoes.

The next night, I made Meyer lemon chicken Piccata, roasted asparagus with gremolata, and parmesan angel hair pasta. Items used from IP box- Meyer lemons, Italian parsley.

Then, I really got on a roll and made crispy pork belly tacos...

If heaven were made of meat, this is what it would look like.

Crispy pork belly tacos with cabbage/apple slaw and avocado. IP box ingredients used- Pink Lady apple, avocado.

At some point, I plan to post the recipe for at least the pork belly tacos, but that will take more plotting and planning than I care to do right now (especially since the fonts and spacing on this post seem to have suddenly gone wonky... it's really grating on my OCD).
If you're like me and want to add more fresh produce and inspiration to your diet, check this company out! Also, please feel free to use my referral link below to get $10.00 off your order!

Click here for more information and $10.00 off!