Jackson Jambalaya

Maybe fall is here.

Do you guys trust the most accurate predictor of winter weather this time of the year? My prediction method is Woolly Worm Coat evaluation.

Say what?

Well, leading climatologists are pretty much in agreement that there is (are?) no more accurate predictor of potential winter weather than the coat coloration of the Woolly Bear (Pyrrharctia isabella) Caterpillar. If I can step into technical terminology without confusing too many of you guys, The blacker their Woolly coat is and the less RockyTop orange they are sporting, the colder the weather will be. Confusted? Purploxed? Let me illustrate some pure science genius for you.

Mixed weather, long handles and heavy jacket one day and shorts with flip-flops the next.

Move to your condo in Key West unless you want to shovel snow all winter.

Heater in the morning AC in afternoon. 

Might as well listen to the weather girl on KRAP's Accurate Weather at 6.

Here is what I saw crossing the Natchez Trace 
the other day, so. I think we will be OK.

Anyhow:

Fall vegetables have a texture and taste I like. If we dined on fall vegetables year round I would get tired of them, but for a month or two every year it seems like summer is over and we go from one fall dish to another, eating single bowl meals, soups, or colorful orange, red, and green casseroles pared up with some simple pork chicken, or beef cut. We hardly ever do more to the meat portion than season and sear it until it looks done. Most of these dishes come about when I add whatever we have in the veggie drawer of the refrigerator, then make a cream sauce, or add a cheese topping to the pan then maybe pass it under the broiler. Once I heat up some crusty bread, I call it dinner. I do like to eat pretty stuff and am happiest when my concoction comes out tasting good and looking nice.

I think this dish met both of those desires.

Beef and Orzo Pasta with Vegetables

This dish can be cooked in the oven. I cooked mine mostly on the stove top in a skillet and then finished it in the oven.

Ingredients:

Ground beef (I had two leftover ground beef patties. They were cooked and I used them)
1/3 cup Orzo Pasta
1/2 cup spinach course chopped
1/2 cup diced tomato
1/2 cup Pecans
1/2 cup Butternut squash 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup julienne cut carrot
1/2 cup onion cut into medium large pieces
1/2 cup mushrooms
2 Tablespoons butter
Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

Directions:

I used canned tomatoes that I drained for fifteen minutes until they were fairly dry.

Cook the Orzo pasta in salted water until tender. Drain away liquid and set aside. I like Orzo pasta, but it is not the cheapest variety in the grocery store. I tried making it from scratch once and boy was it difficult to roll those little guys out by hand. You could substitute wild rice, but that stuff is like Gold in a bag when you buy it. You might try Rice-A Roni if they still sell it where you shop

I had some leftover burger patties and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces. Worked fine.

Clean, peel and prep the vegetables, I like them all about the same size.

Coat pecans with butter, salt lightly, and toast in Microwave for maybe 1 1/2 minutes. I do them 30 seconds at a time on a single layer plate.

Sauté onions and butternut squash in 2 Tablespoons of butter. Season with salt and black pepper and cook for 5 - 10 minutes over medium heat, until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add mushrooms, beef, carrots, and diced tomatoes. Continue cooking for several minutes.

Add spinach and pecans. Continue cooking until spinach changes color to dark green. Only takes a minute or two.

Transfer from the pan to a bowl. Add fully cooked orzo pasta and stir well. Taste for seasoning and add salt and black pepper as desired to taste.

Transfer to a pam sprayed or butter coated, oven proof dish and finish off in oven at 325 degrees f for 20-30 minutes.

May be served as a side dish or enjoyed as a single bowl dinner.

Thanks for looking at my post.
God Bless You.