Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in South Florida Family Events and Recipes

As Thanksgiving nears, you may be looking for easy-to-prepare meals in an effort to save your energy and appetite for the feast to come. Look no further, we have you covered with our weekend recipe picks!

One-Pot Chicken and Sausage Orzo (found on Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 12 ounces spicy Italian sausage, casings removed

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

• 3 cups chicken broth, plus more as needed 

• ½ cup tomato sauce

• 1 ½ cups uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

• ½ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

• ¼ cup chopped Italian parsley

• 2 tablespoons sliced fresh chives

• 4 tablespoons ricotta cheese for garnish

Preparation

• Place a pot over medium-high heat; add oil. Brown crumbled sausage, breaking up pieces as they cook. Cook and stir until sausage is nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Add chicken pieces. Cook and stir until chicken begins to turn opaque, about 1 minute. Add salt.

• Stir in chicken broth and tomato sauce. Raise heat to high and bring mixture to a simmer. Stir in orzo and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to medium until pasta is almost tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat. Add grated cheese, parsley, and chives. Serve topped with a dollop of ricotta cheese.

Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas (found on Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 (1 ounce) package fajita seasoning

• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

• 1 ½ pounds raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips

• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced into strips

• 1 red onion, sliced into strips

• 1 jalapeno pepper, sliced into rings

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

• Mix fajita seasoning and olive oil together in a large bowl. Add shrimp; toss to coat.

• Lay out seasoned shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet. Add red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, red onion, and jalapeno pepper; mix with shrimp and spread out evenly.

• Roast in the preheated oven until shrimp are opaque, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer shrimp to a serving plate.

• Broil pepper mixture until lightly blackened, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to the serving plate with shrimp.

Easy Korean Ground Beef Bowl (found on Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef 

• 5 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

• ½ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

• ⅓ cup light brown sugar

• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

• 6 stalk (blank)s green onions, chopped, divided

• 4 cups hot cooked brown rice

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Preparation

• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, stirring and crumbling into small pieces until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain excess grease.

• Add garlic, ginger, and sesame oil, stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in soy sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper. Cook until some of the sauce absorbs into the beef, about 7 minutes. Add 1/2 of the chopped green onions.

• Serve beef over hot cooked rice; garnished with sesame seeds and remaining green onions.

Enjoy your weekend!