Skip the Separate Bowl Step in Most Recipes to Save Some Dishes
When you find a recipe on the Internet, it often involves several steps “in a separate bowl” when using more dishes than you need. In most cases, you can probably skip this and use the same bowl or pan that you are already cooking in.
As the home advice site The Kitchn explains, the separate bowl stage is most often used to adjust the timing of the stages, not because the ingredients really need to be separated. For example, when making salads, the dressing often needs to be prepared in a separate bowl and then poured over when ready. However, you can make the dressing right in the salad bowl if you don’t leave it on for too long:
It’s the same with fried vegetables. They are poured directly in a skillet with garlic, spices and olive oil. Here, too, dexterous hands are required. These jujube pans don’t have a lot of overhang, so you can easily create the same mess, but I find it much easier to wipe spills off the counter than adding another bowl to the sink.
If you are still learning how to cook or are trying a recipe for the first time, it may be best to follow the directions down to the letter first. After that, you can start removing unwanted utensils as you figure out what is needed and what is not. As we said, recipes are not the Bible . If you can get rid of the need to wash more dishes, so much the better.