This week, we’ve decided to go after a good cause. We’re focused on meals that require only one item—a skillet, Dutch oven, wok, you name it—and you get to figure out what to do with all that extra time you’ve regained from not having to clean a sink full of dishes. (After-dinner stroll, perhaps?)
We’re starting off with the some of the easiest recipes: meals that can be made in a slow cooker. But in addition to being one-pot dinners, these recipes share something else in common: none of them entail any additional cookware (no sauté pans, pasta pots, or food processors needed!). Any of the recipes that call for sautéing entail actually browning protein right inside the insert, so if you’re making one of those, be sure that you use a flameproof slow cooker insert.
 Vegetarian Chili
While this recipe may sound like it has a long ingredient list, it is quite possibly the easiest meal on the planet. All you have to do is combine canned pinto and kidney beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers, and spices on low heat. Six hours later, the inviting aroma of chili will be beckoning. Add the corn in 30 minutes beforehand, just until it’s warmed through. |
 Honey-Ginger Pork with Braised Kale
Though easy to assemble, this simple pork braise offers a complex combination of sweet, salty, bitter and spicy flavors, and tastes wonderful atop a bed of Asian noodles, such as soba. Swap the soy sauce for coconut aminos and the white wine for stock to make it paleo-friendly. |
 Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry
This curry just so happens to be vegan, but thanks to butternut squash, which has a substantial bite, even serious carnivores will find it warm and nourishing.
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 Chili-Rubbed Brisket Tacos
Tender brisket makes a nice filling for tacos. For two meals in one, serve the brisket with traditional Mexican mix-ins like pickled vegetables, cilantro and salsa for dinner one night, then stuff the meat into burger buns with barbecue sauce for lunch the next day.
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 Winter Vegetable Stew
This one-pot marvel transforms humble winter vegetables like parsnips and carrots into a sweet, bright stew sparkling with color and flavor. |