diff --git a/templates/phyllomeos.ci.yml b/templates/phyllomeos.ci.yml
index bcd1461..679bf43 100644
--- a/templates/phyllomeos.ci.yml
+++ b/templates/phyllomeos.ci.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ jobs:
       - uses: https://git.phyllo.me/devops/checkout@v5
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
+      - name: Install Python deps
+        run: pip install -r cook/requirements.txt
       - name: Lint manifest + templates
         run: make -C cook lint
       - name: Generate recipes + dishes, validate every dish
diff --git a/templates/xml-definition-for-domains.ci.yml b/templates/xml-definition-for-domains.ci.yml
index f7dfb1a..5e4c0a5 100644
--- a/templates/xml-definition-for-domains.ci.yml
+++ b/templates/xml-definition-for-domains.ci.yml
@@ -19,15 +19,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Validate XML definitions
         run: |
           if command -v xmllint >/dev/null; then
-            for f in $(find . -name '*.xml'); do
-              xmllint --noout "$f"
-            done
+            find . -name '*.xml' -exec xmllint --noout {} +
           else
-            python3 - <<'EOF'
-            import glob, xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
-            files = glob.glob('**/*.xml', recursive=True)
-            for f in files:
-                ET.parse(f)  # raises on malformed XML
-            print(f"ok: {len(files)} XML files well-formed")
-            EOF
+            python3 -c "import glob, xml.etree.ElementTree as ET; [ET.parse(f) for f in glob.glob('**/*.xml', recursive=True)]"
           fi
\ No newline at end of file