Yup.
The knife work needed here isn't all that great, once you get the idea of what's wanted (so, when it says "dice" you need to know "how big? -- my lovely assistant wasn't very clear). What's more a matter of judgement is "how much?", "how hot?" and "how long?". Making a dough, for instance, with the gluten-free flour, you have to guess how much water to put in (I think I made it too sticky -- but it could just be that the flour sucks). It says to cook the tofu in a non-stick skillet over a "medium-high" heat until "golden brown". I'm not a tofu cook and that is easier said than done without the stuff sticking and/or breaking up.
All of which is to say that I think I'd be better at the recipes the second time through. They aren't intrinsically very difficult. It's mostly about preparing a ton of stuff then mixing it together for serving.
If you cost the ingredients it is indeed absurd. But that's capitalism, isn't it? If you've got a good idea, charge what the market will bear.
And on the other side is this. Though the ingredients individually are probably cheap, there are a lot of them, including some pretty obscure spices and condiments (or, at least, ones that I -- who know basically about European food -- had never heard of). Each recipe has about a dozen pre-packaged ingredients, a lot of them very small (a spoonful of coconut flour, etc.) Packaging that and presenting the recipe cards (which are very well done) is probably quite pricey. And, on the other hand, it would cost you a ton to have all of those ingredients in your kitchen, even if you could find them at your local store, for the small amount you use.
I'm thinking that, if someone were selling this stuff from a food truck for $8 a portion, I'd be happy to pay it and it would do very well. I haven't ever seen the food from Blue Apron, though I have had lots of on-line ads for it (hasn't everyone?) and it looked to me like the kind of thing I'd be ashamed to have to have pre-packaged (like bottled salad dressing). This stuff, on the other hand, is way outside what I'd be able to do for myself, so perhaps it's worth the price to me.
Going to give it another couple of weeks in any case.
