Dishwasher's Dinner

My Beloved and I have a deal - when I cook, he does the dishes. If he cooks, I do. Mostly, I do the cooking - he says he can keep himself from starvation but I'm the better chef. Having tasted some of his creations, I'm not sure his description is accurate but I do like to cook, so I don't resist.

Each evening, we clean up the kitchen together - he washes the dishes and I putter around putting away the leftovers and cleaning the counters. He is particularly grateful when I use fewer pots and pans; the nights when I get really creative and use every pot in the kitchen elicit a heavy sigh. This meal was his favorite for that reason - I only used one wide frying pan.

Cookiecrumb had extolled the virtues of cooking pork chops in butter and she's right, it does make a lovely difference. Being lazy, after the chops had browned I popped the sliced carrots in next to the chops, then added sliced onion and, in the last few minutes, the broccoli. The chops, carrots and onions emerged nicely caramelized and the broccoli was still brightly green and just tender. Nothing fancy for this workday meal, but it was all delicious and, best of all, made for an especially easy cleanup.