5 Delicious & Flavorful One Pot Meals | Cook Without a Big Mess!

I'm using frozen wild-caught cod that I defrosted but you could also use mahi-mahi or tilapia. Just make sure to pat your cod dry. I'm seasoning it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. I'm not using too much salt because I am adding in vegetable bouillon to the sauce. Make sure to flip the fish and season the other side. I've got about a cup and a half of cherry tomatoes and I'm just slicing them in half. If you don't have cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes are a good substitute as well. Finely dice half of a shallot or if you don't have shallots you can use half of a red onion. I've got some kalamata olives and some Castelvetrano olives that I'm slicing in half and I left some hole for garnish in my sauce. You want to use a good olive oil for this dish. This is the brand that I love and it's pretty accessible in stores. Add in the butter on medium heat and heat for about two to three minutes. Once the butter is fully melted you'll add in your shallots or red onions and sauté for about two minutes until they're translucent. I've got my handy dandy garlic crusher Frank here and I'm adding in my four cloves of crushed garlic and sautéing that for another 30 seconds. Add in the cherry tomatoes, white wine, and lemon juice and let that simmer for about three to four minutes until the wine is cooked down and the liquid has evaporated a bit. You'll then add in your garlic powder, onion powder, and dried basil. I'm also adding in some Calabrian chili for a touch of heat but you can replace this with red pepper flakes or leave it out altogether. You'll also add in your vegetable bouillon, let that combine, then add your cod fillets back in. Go ahead and add the olives around the edges and you'll spoon some sauce over the fillets and you're going to cook this on medium heat and cover for about five minutes. Once the five minutes is up I'm going to go ahead and add in some fresh basil. I've got some fresh basil going on in the backyard and we're going to add that in and then cover and cook for an additional five minutes or until the internal temp reads 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure not to overcook the cod because it can get rubbery when it's overcooked and we don't want that. This dish is best served right after cooking you don't really want to reheat it because the can get rubbery. A perfectly cooked cod is tender and flaky and you've got that beautiful beautiful sauce. I like to plate my cod over white or brown rice or even some cauliflower rice or you can plate it with some veggies and I love to add crumbled feta on top. It's optional but I highly highly recommend it. Can't wait to eat this. In the words of Lola J, that is so so good. Hope you guys like it. I'm using a chuck roast for my beef stew. Chuck roast is a great cut for beef stew. You want to see that pretty marbling and avoid meats labeled as stew meat. Often this is the worst part of the meat and the leftovers. I'll be using a little magic today to do the chopping. Sorry to my muggles. Chop your beef into two inch cubes since it's going to shrink down when you cook it. You then want to make sure to salt and pepper and set that aside. For our veggies I'm using some carrots, white onion, and celery. I'm going to use potatoes but I'm going to cut those later on. Heat up your oil really well roughly about two to three minutes. We want to get a great sear on our meat. This is going to help create our fond which is key to our delicious stew and just getting that caramelized color that we're looking for on our beef. It's going to take about five to seven minutes on each side. You want to make sure to take your time with this process and do it in small batches. Add in your veggies and cook for about five minutes until they've developed a nice color. You'll then add in your tomato paste and cook that down for about three to four minutes until the paste is a deep reddish hue. Then we'll add in our garlic and saute for another two to three minutes. Add your meat back in making sure to get all of that good au jus that's built up on the plate. We're then going to add in our flour and combine well. This is what's going to thicken our sauce when we cook our beef stew. Add in your red wine. The wine essentially helps break down the meat and adds depth to the sauce. You can sub this for another cup of broth with some vinegar in it. I'm using low sodium beef broth, some worcestershire, some soy sauce, and vegetable bouillon, and some umami seasoning to boost up that umami flavor. What's great about beef stew is you can really just make it your own with the different veggies, herbs. This is just my go-to. I'm adding in some springs of thyme, bay leaf, and I love star anise in my beef stew. You're going to cover it and cook it in the oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours. While that's cooking, prepare your potatoes. I'm using Yukon Gold because they keep their consistency and get nice and soft on the inside. Once the two hours is up, you're going to add in your potatoes and give that a good mix. You're then going to return it to the oven for about 30 minutes. At this point, you can also remove your fresh herbs, making sure to remove the star of anise as well. They've done their job beautifully. Return that to the oven for 30 minutes and once that's done, you can take it and add in your frozen peas, which I've defrosted, and then you cook it for additional 30 minutes. I also tasted for salt and pepper before returning it to the oven. Now the 30 minutes is up. Our beef stew is ready to serve. I top it with some fresh parsley. Some people like to top it with chives, but again, it's your beef stew, so make it however you want. Our potatoes held their shape nicely. They're nice and fluffy on the inside, which is what we're going for. The gravy is nice and thick and the meat is so juicy and tender. It just falls apart in your mouth. Look at that. You can serve this over rice or some mashed potatoes or cauliflower mash or rice. Really, your options are limitless. Everything is cooked so nicely. The veggies are nice and tender. The gravy is thick. The meat is so juicy, but we love to honestly just serve this with some bread. We just dip it in that sauce. I love to top mine with a little lemon and it's so good. You can batch this out, cook it. It'll last for a few days and it's so, so delicious. I can't wait to try it. If you guys like this recipe, hit that like and subscribe button and I hope you guys enjoy it. Bon appetit. I'm using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, but you can use skinless as well if that's what you prefer. I'm seasoning them with olive oil, smoked paprika, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, and fresh lemon juice. I was fresh out of gloves, but I'm one of those weirdos that actually likes the feeling of raw chicken, so I didn't mind it. I like to get some of the seasoning under the skin and let your chicken marinate while you prep your other ingredients or you can let it marinate overnight. I'm using one banana shallot, which is a cross between an onion and a shallot. You can sub for a regular shallot or onion if that's all you have. I like the mild flavor and how easy they are to prepare. I really want the garlic to come through in this dish, so I'm going to make a garlic paste. I'm using six large cloves of garlic and a pinch of coarse salt. You can also make the paste using your knife and coarse salt, or you can use minced garlic, but with the paste you're really going to taste that garlic. Heat your oil on medium high heat for about three to four minutes or until it's barely smoking. You're then going to add your chicken skin side down and make sure to press down to make sure all of the chicken is in full contact with your pan because we want that skin to crisp up. Cook for three to four minutes or until it's nice and golden and you're going to flip them over and repeat the same process on the other side. And don't worry, I know it seems like a lot of oil, but we're just using it to get that nice beautiful golden color on our chicken and then we're going to strain some of the oil and leave about two tablespoons. Once the chicken has finished cooking three minutes on the other side, set aside and again remove some of the oil and only leave about two tablespoons. You're then going to turn your heat to medium and add in your shallots. Cook for four minutes to allow it to develop some color. You'll then add in the vermicelli and a tablespoon of butter and toast the vermicelli for about three minutes so it also develops some color. I love adding vermicelli to rice and especially this dish because it makes it like a rice-aroni. Add in your garlic paste and saute that for about 30 seconds. I'm using jasmine rice, but you could also use basmati rice. You would just have to adjust the amount of liquid and make sure to wash your rice until the water runs clear and strain. Add your rice to your pan along with your dried oregano, turmeric, onion powder and toast the rice for about two to three minutes till it smells nice and nutty. You're then going to add in your low sodium chicken broth. I'm actually using the Better Than Bouillon, which I dilute in water, but you can use whatever chicken broth you have on hand. Just make sure it's low sodium so your food is not super salty. You're making this stovetop, I like to start off cooking the chicken with the skin side up and then halfway through I flip it over just to make sure that it's evenly cooked. Also top it with some fresh thyme or some dry thyme and I place a kitchen towel between the pan and the lid. I find this helps it retain the steam and cook more evenly. And you're going to cook it on low medium for 25 to 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 175 degrees Fahrenheit. And it's ready, the rice is nice and fluffy and the chicken is fully cooked. So we're going to go ahead and top it off with some fresh parsley and we're ready to serve and dig in. I added a little extra squeeze of lemon and I can't wait to dig into this. The chicken is nice and juicy, the rice is perfectly cooked. That is delicious. The rice is nice and fluffy. You can taste the lemon come through, that garlic paste. Chef's kiss. Gotta try it. I'm starting off with a pound and a half of cleaned and deveined shrimp. Make sure to pat your shrimp dry. You're going to season with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano and combine that well. Heat your pan on medium high heat and add in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once it's heated, about two to three minutes, add in your shrimp in two batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. You're going to cook them for about 45 seconds per side or until they're mostly pink. And don't worry if it's not fully pink, it's better to not overcook it and it's going to finish cooking in the orzo. Set your shrimp aside and in the same pan, you're going to melt your butter on medium heat and once that's melted, you'll add in your olive oil. I'm using one shallot and just giving it a rough dice, but if you don't have shallots, you can also just do white onion or yellow onion, about half or maybe a quarter if you're doing a full onion. Turn your heat down to medium and add in your shallots to the pan and saute for about one to two minutes or until nice and aromatic. You'll then add in your chopped garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. We're going to add in the orzo to give it some color and help it absorb all those delicious aromatics and saute for about three minutes. Add in your low sodium chicken broth, which I've also added my white wine to. The wine is optional, but I love what it adds to the dish, but you do not have to use it. I do have some substitutes on the blog if you still want to give it that little kick that white wine gives it. And then I'm also adding in about a teaspoon of lemon zest, making sure to not get any of the rind and some lemon juice. Be careful not to look at it too closely or you'll end up like me. And once that's done, you'll add in the rest of your seasonings, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, a little red pepper flakes, and let that simmer for about eight to nine minutes on medium low if you like it al dente. This is also a perfect time to test for salt as needed. Mine was perfect. Now this is not traditional to the orzo scampi recipe, but I love the addition of cherry tomatoes. I like to add them in the last few minutes so that they retain a little bit of their bite. You could also add in asparagus or spinach, totally up to you. We're going to add the shrimp back in and then we're going to top it with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. You can also add in about a third cup of heavy cream if you want it to have more of a risotto consistency. I've done that before and it's super decadent and rich. I love it, but I wanted to make a healthier version this time. Remove it from the heat and top it with some fresh parsley and you are ready to serve. Honestly, I love this recipe. It's simple, it's quick, it's cost effective, and of course it tastes great. I like to top it with a little more parsley before serving and of course a generous amount of parmesan cheese and let's dig in. I can't wait to dig into this. Oh, this looks so good. So good. That is so delicious. I like my orzo a little al dente, but you can cook yours a little longer if you like it softer. I just like it the way I like my pasta. And the shrimp. It's so garlicky. It's delicious and I love extra parm on it. Gotta try it. Bon appetit. I'm using salmon with skin on, but you can use skinless as well and I'm seasoning it with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to your pan on medium high heat and heat for about two minutes. I normally add my salmon skin side down first, but I just want to give it a nice color and it will finish cooking a little when I add it back to the orzo. Flip it and cook it for another two minutes. Okay, it's delicious. Look at that beautiful color. Remove the salmon from the pan and leave about a tablespoon of the oil and add two tablespoons of butter. I'm using the caramelized onions that I prepared a few weeks back, but you can also use white onion or shallots if that's what you have on hand. But I will say the caramelized onions really add to the dish. Saute for about two to three minutes until aromatic and then you'll add in your crushed garlic. We've got Frank here for my garlic. Bam. Add in the crushed garlic and saute for about a minute or until it's nice and fragrant. Add in the orzo and toast for about three to four minutes so it develops some color and absorbs all of those aromatics. You'll then deglaze the pan with white wine and let it reduce for about two minutes. For my chicken broth, I'm using Better Than Bouillon, just dissolved in water just because I love the taste. And I'm also adding in some heavy cream. And for our seasonings, I've got onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes. Give that a good mix and let all of those flavors meld together. And this wouldn't be lemon garlic orzo without some fresh lemon zest and of course some fresh lemon juice. And let me warn you, be very careful here. All right, I did squirt my eye that time. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until al dente or a little longer if you like it a little softer. I'm also going to add in some freshly grated parmesan cheese and freshly grated is always best if you can. Add in the parmesan cheese, combine, and this is the perfect opportunity to taste for salt and pepper. Perfection. Add the salmon back in and simmer on low for about two minutes or until your salmon is fully cooked to your desired doneness. As a finishing touch, I love to add in some fresh lemon wedges, maybe a little more lemon zest, and then I top it with some freshly chopped parsley. And there you have it, a delicious 30-minute meal. Start by plating the lemony creamy orzo and you can also add in some more parmesan if you want. Top it with your salmon and let's go. Let's try this bad boy and try the orzo first. That is garlicky and lemony just the way we like it. I'm gonna eat a little salmon, dip it in the orzo. So, so good. If you guys love it, let me know in the comments. Bon appetit!