The problem is not mise en place itself, that is important to not burn or overcook various ingredients, it is that they have you mise en place _everything_ when you might be taking 3 of those ingredients and putting them into a bowl. That's a waste of time and dishes.
Just say: chop these 3 things and add them to the same bowl you are going to marinate next
For the recipes that I cook multiple times I have figured out optimal pan/bowl management, including reusing dirty bowls or pans if it doesn't hurt. For example for rice pudding I whip the egg whites in the bowl that will be used to store the final pudding, saving 1 bowl. IMO recipes should include a bowl/pan strategy, as well as a time management strategy to interleave steps (e.g. whip the egg whites while the rice is boiling).
I read the entire recipe through once to get a feel for what I must do before cooking and what I can delay. This hasn't proven to be an issue for me. Even if you just make it as-written, you're killing what, an extra 5-10 minutes? I pour a nice glass of wine or a beer and turn the cooking into a fun experience instead of viewing it as a waste of time.
This applies to any recipe, though? It's not hard to just read the next step, especially when every ingredient name is in bold. Hell, it never even actually says to put things in individual bowls.
I dunno, I've followed many where they explicitly tell you to put in same mixing bowl. Things are written in a more logical order.
> It's not hard to just read the next step
It's not always the next step, sometimes its one of the last as its a raw salad of some sort with a quick marinade or simple dressing.
> Hell, it never even actually says to put things in individual bowls.
On every recipe they provide you it is formatted with picture on left and steps on the right. Every recipe prep shows individual bowls of cut ingredients.
So it may not _say_ to put them in individual bowls but it always shows you you should put them in individual bowls.
It's a minor gripe the original poster had (and I share) you shouldn't have to study the recipe. It's not hard to just say cut up x,y,z and place into same mixing bowl. I want to pull out all the ingredients and start cooking and do my best to meet their advertised time, not spend more time planning their recipe.
I'm sure many people have made the same mistake, pictures speak a 1000 words after all.
Or just read ahead and figure out what you can and should not pipeline. When I see I need to cook rice for 20 mins I know that I can wait to chop the garnish
Just say: chop these 3 things and add them to the same bowl you are going to marinate next
source: frustrated Blue Apron customer :)