Before you turn on the stove

Most kitchen stress comes from looking for things while something is already cooking.

Read the whole recipe first

Read to the end before you start. You are looking for three things:

• Waiting steps. “Press the tofu 10 minutes” or “rest 3 minutes” change when you should start.
• Things that happen fast. Garlic goes from golden to burnt in under a minute. Know it is coming.
• Equipment. A thermometer you can’t find is useless when the chicken is in the pan.

Set everything out

Put every ingredient on the counter and measure it before the pan goes on. Cooks call this mise en place. For a 5-ingredient recipe it takes two minutes.

Clear a landing spot

You need somewhere to put a hot pan, a used spatula and the finished food. Clear it now.

Clean as you wait

Every recipe here lists clean-up time. Most of it can happen during waiting steps: rinse the bowl while the eggs boil, wipe the board while the chicken sears. Done right, clean-up after eating is two minutes.