I like to think that when it comes to running the kitchen in my house, I know everything. This despite the fact that I am humbly reminded almost daily of ways in which I don't (I'm thinking about Santa Maria's banana bread, homemade biscuits, kale chips, and apple pies).
Recently, she put on water for spaghetti while I unpacked after our trip to my mother's house. On a stroll through the kitchen, I noticed green beans floating in a pot and thought that she had stopped making the pasta. "What are you doing?," I said. "I always do that," she replied. "It saves time, and nutrients."
That is a great idea!
So she throws the beans in first, then fishes them out and does the pasta? Interesting. I usually put the green veg in towards the end of the pasta cooking time, but then I have to decide if I want to detangle the two.