Clean As You Cook

One of life's best feelings: successfully cooking a delectable and satisfying meal. 
One of life's worst feelings: walking into the kitchen (belly full and feeling partially comatose from so much yummy food) to find that a small war has taken place on your countertop: pots and pans are piled high; cutting boards, knives, and measuring spoons are magically balancing in the sink; leftovers are stone cold...
The last thing you want to do is clean up this mess. You'd much rather spread out on the couch and let your food baby digest. Well here's my (somewhat obvious) tip and secret to having a happy cooking experience: clean as you cook.


Since the first time I started helping my dad in the kitchen, he's been telling me that simple phrase. It seems so obvious - clean as you cook - and yet many people forget that the sink actually does work while the stove is also in use. And I know, some people have trouble multi-tasking...but seriously, this isn't rocket science. Let's take a meal (Roasted Veggies Mixed with Orzo) and I'll show you how the "clean as you cook" method can be implemented: 


1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit; place saucepan filled with water on the stove on high heat
2. Combine sweet potato, eggplant, cauliflower, onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, dried herbs, and pepper in a bowl. Mix well
3. Evenly spread veggies on a baking sheet; wrap beets in aluminum foil (like a tent) and place them on the same baking sheet.
4. Place baking sheet in oven for 20-25 minutes (after 10 minutes, check on the veggies, mix them around with a spatula, then let them continue cooking for 10-15 more minutes).
At this point, clean the bowl (in which you mixed the veggies).
5. Heat sauté pan on stove on medium heat; once the pan is hot, add remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
6. Add kale stems & cook for 2 minutes; then add kale leaves (you may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your pan)
Clean the cutting board (used for chopping the veggies) and knife.
7. Meanwhile, your saucepan with water should be boiling. Add orzo to water and cook according to package.
8. Remove veggies from oven after 20-25 minutes; carefully remove beets from foil and peel off their skin; chop the beets into 1-inch pieces and combine with the rest of roasted veggies --- you will only use half of this roasted veggie mix. Save the other half for another meal! Put leftover 1/2 of veggie mixture into a tupperware container. 
9. Drain orzo. Before combining everything, wash the pasta pot. Combine 1/2 of roasted veggie mix, sauteed kale, orzo, 1 clove minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, parsley, and chickpeas in a bowl. 
Quickly wash colander and tablespoon (the food will stay hot during the 48 seconds it takes to wash these utensils)
10. Top with grated cheese and serve!
What's left to wash? baking sheet, sauté pan, wooden spoon (used for mixing kale)...


That's much better than messes created in previous cooking experiences...don't you think? So, the next time you make breakfast/lunch/dinner, do yourself a favor and try the "clean as you cook" method. Instead of spending an additional half hour cleaning after you eat, you'll find yourself washing dishes for maybe 10 minutes (leaving you plenty of time to finally pay attention to your food baby). 


Tell me, do you normally have a lot of dishes to clean after cooking/eating or are you a "clean as you cook" person already?