Take-out entrees and frozen pizza are certainly a godsend at this time of year, but it’s also nice to be reminded that you can simmer rice and chicken, shrimp, sausage or ham, with seasoning elements, in a single pot for less than 30 minutes and come up with a warming, delicious, homemade meal — a meal that needs only a salad and bread (or skip them in a pinch) to be completely satisfying.

Here are two such dishes.

Basque Garlic Chicken and Rice

The lusty flavors of Basque cooking are recreated here in this simple but full-of-flavor chicken and rice dish. Chorizo is a garlicky Spanish sausage; if you can’t find it, substitute Portuguese linguica or chourico or Polish kielbasa.

Serves 4

4 large bone-in chicken thighs

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 ounces chorizo sausage (see note above), sliced about ½-inch thick

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 cup white long-grain rice

2 cups chicken broth, plus additional broth or water if needed

1 cup coarsely chopped bottled roasted red peppers

1 cup frozen peas

Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large deep skillet with lid, add the chicken and sausage, and cook over medium heat, turning once, until nicely browned, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate, leaving drippings in pan.

Add onion and cook until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in rice and cook, stirring, until coated with oil, about 2 minutes. Add broth, return chicken and sausage to the pan, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes. If all liquid is absorbed, add about ½ cup more broth or water. Stir in roasted peppers and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, liquid is absorbed and chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the peas. Season with additional salt and pepper if necessary.

Shrimp Pilau

Pilau is a low-country Carolina rice dish, usually made with seafood. Some say pilau means pilaf (and I’ve also heard it called “perloo”), but what do we northerners know? In any case, it’s a warming, peasanty dish that everyone loves.

Serves 4

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 ounces diced smoked ham (about 1 ½ cups)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 cup long-grain white rice

2 cups bottled clam juice

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 (14 ½-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice

1¼ pounds peeled and deveined shrimp (medium or large)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup thinly sliced scallions

In a large skillet with a lid, heat the oil. Cook the ham, onion and bell pepper over medium heat, stirring often, until beginning to soften and brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add rice and stir until it is coated with oil, about 2 minutes. Add clam juice and thyme, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and cook covered for 20 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and cook over medium heat uncovered until somewhat reduced, about 5 minutes. Check to make sure the rice is tender and cook a few more minutes if necessary. Stir in the shrimp, remove from the heat, and let sit until shrimp turn pink, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the scallions and serve.

Brooke Dojny is author or co-author of more than a dozen cookbooks, most recently “Lobster!” (Storey, 2012). She lives on the Blue Hill peninsula, and can be contacted via Facebook at:facebook.com/brookedojny

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