Generally my cooking method can be desribed as "one pot". I prep my ingredients, set an order, and add them to the pan in intervals designed to get the most flavors. Stews, curries, stir fries, beans & rices, etc. Sometimes I may hold a cooked or partially cooked piece to the side while something else goes into the pot, but it all ends up in one pot and it is Good.
Recently tho, I've been experimenting with one pot/one pan meals where one ingredient gets roasted by the great fires[1] of the broiler. I've been doing my tika masala-adjacent curries with the chicken marinated and broiled before going into the stewed-then-blended onions/tomatoes/spices/whatever. It's nice cuz it's not really adding any overhead beyond a second timer-in-my-head and I can pop the chicken in the oven while the sauce is ensaucening and then combine the when the Time is Right.
Last night I decided to apply this to korean beef, which we often add broccoli to. I like the sweet/salty/spicy beef paired with greens, but when I do it one-pot-style I often overcook the broccoli, and even when I don't it ends up essentially steamed, which is not the Ideal Form Of Broccoli. So I did what I've been doing with curry, and when the beef was added to the onions in my pan broccoli was tossed in the oven and when everything was done I got crispyroast broccoli and good beefs (and a fried egg). It does mean one more cooking dish to wash, but I think it's been worth it.
okay, it's a really really hot metal rod ↩︎