One-Pot Chicken Sausage Orzo with Tender-Crisp Broccoli

One pot and 30 minutes are enough to prepare chicken sausage and orzo for a meal, including weeknights, and the orzo cooks in broth, and broccoli cooks at the end of the preparation process, so you don't need to serve a vegetable side dish along with this main dish, which is helpful on busy weeknights.

Slice the sausage on the diagonal. Sauté in hot oil for 2-3 minutes per side, turning once. I recommend using a wide, shallow pan to avoid steaming the sausage. Use a wooden spoon to remove browned bits from the pan and stir them into the orzo for extra flavor.

Toast the orzo for one minute before adding broth and lowering the heat once the orzo is cooked. When most of the broth has cooked off, I take the skillet off the heat to let the broth thicken a bit. Add the broccoli and sausage back to the skillet near the end of cooking time to heat them through as the other ingredients continue to cook.

I usually eat it as prepared most of the time, but I like to serve a cold, acidic side dish with this hot orzo. A jalapeno slaw makes a good side dish to serve with orzo. Large meals might include jalapeno popper appetizers served with orzo.