You know you’re supposed to be eating more vegetables, but it’s winter and you are staring down the barrel of some ugly, knobby, hard seasonal vegetables. (Solution: The sheet pan.)

You have only about half an hour to make dinner when you get home from work. The babysitter will turn the oven to 425 and leave the chicken out at room temperature, but you have to do the rest, and fast. (Solution: The sheet pan.)

Is it possible that all her in-laws are coming over at once for brunch? (Solution: The sheet pan.)

All of these scenarios have happened to us, and in every instance, the sheet pan was the fix. Once you start getting familiar with this kitchen workhorse, it’s a little difficult to envision how you lived without it. Flat and wide like a cookie sheet, but with a substantial lip and a sturdy constitution, it’s tougher than a cookie sheet (which doesn’t have much of a rim). It comes in handy when you don’t want round foods to slip off the edge. (Cookies tend to stay put; knobby potatoes and cherry tomatoes do not!) Sheet pans are ideal for catching juice that might come out of meat, oil you’ve used to slick vegetables, and any other juicy bits.

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