We have this standing joke that every time my husband calls me in the day to see what I'm up to, my response is almost always...dishes. When you eat most of your meals at home, that means there will be a lot of dishes. Anytime I can make dinner in one pot, I'm all for it. That means more time for after dinner snuggles :)
Italian Beef Orzo Skillet
1# ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 zucchini, grated
1/2 cup whole wheat orzo
2 cups pasta sauce
2 cups frozen spinach ( I buy this in a bag, not the block-easier to scoop out amount I need)
S & P to taste
grated parmesan for serving, if you so desire.
In a large skillet, brown up the beef, onion and garlic until beef is cooked through. Season the beef with S&P and/or Italian seasoning. Stir in the grated zucchini, orzo, sauce, spinach, salt and pepper. Put a lid on it and simmer 10-12 minutes stirring every 4-5 minutes. If you don't have a lid, make one out of 2 sheets of foil fitted over pan.
Spoon into bowls and top with parmesan.
Variations-
This is also really delicious with pan sausage instead of beef.
Don't be afraid to use ground turkey or chicken as well.
If you don't want to mess with grating the zucchini, you could buy a package of zucchini noodles and chop them up before tossing in.
If you don't know what orzo is, it's a very small pasta about the size of rice. Cooks pretty quick. You could use brown or white rice instead, but it would need to be precooked. You could also get away with the small elbow macaroni or other very small pasta.
And P.S.-don't you love my taken from phone food pics? No fancy camera here, and obviously no photo retouching or consideration on the best lighting. Just being real!
