Smart tip: The One-Pot Meal

 Before you write in, let me say that I realize that the dish prepared below—José Andrés's modern take on traditional paella, which he called Arroz a banda con Bogavante (rice apart from lobster, with cuttlefish)—likely required a battery of saucepans and other equipment to prepare. José Andrés (second from left) and a non-traditional paella at ICC.The occasion was a joyful one: the launch of the new Spanish Culinary Arts program at New York's International Culinary Center, which Andrés will oversee.  There was a lot of wonderful food that day including a tomato, water and goat cheese salad, and a dessert of Catalan custard with citrus and vanilla -- a peek at what the curriculum might include.

These dishes were made by pros, with the aim of teaching future pros who will in turn be cooking these sorts of show-stoppers in restaurants. But while top chefs may take their skills and their palettes home when they are off-duty, they don't take their prep cooks or dish washers with them. Nobody likes cleaning up after dinner; chefs cooking on their own time loathe it. Arroz a banda con Bogavante

The solution? One-pot dinners. “In restaurants it takes so much equipment. At home I literally try to figure out what will take the least amount of effort and the fewest objects to wash, because I don’t have my crew picking up after me," says Sang Yoon, chef-owner of Lukshon in Los Angeles. Yoon is a big fan of the one-pot meal: soups, stews, casseroles, or curries. The prep and clean-up is easier, of course. "But I also think that one-pot meals are incredibly soul-satisfying, comforting.”

Paella came up often as a favorite one-dish dinner among chefs I spoke with: Cat Cora, Jacques Torres, and Marc Murphy all make it regularly for their families or guests at home. It is a dish that can be as elevated as Andrés's presentation, or a simple as you like: use a combination of seafood, chicken, sausage, or try a vegetarian version. Murphy's easy-to-follow recipe appears in Smart Chefs: Rice, proteins, vegetables, stock all in the same pan. I'll be making it this week. Meanwhile, I wish the best of luck to the first class of students at the Spanish Culinary Arts program. And their dish washers, which is mostly likely also them.

Tomato & Watermelon salad with Goat CheeseCatalan custard with citrus & vanilla