On Change and a Salad

Sometimes change is the rattling kind, the sort that upends your assumption of stability.  The kind of change you didn’t anticipate and that requires walking out trust in a faithful God in a whole new way.

Plans shift. Relationships sever. We get bad news. Or maybe good news that still seems scary because even though we prayed for it, we have no idea what the implications are moving forward.

We know this kind of change.

But there is another kind of change, the gradual sort. It’s the slow-developed prospect of something new, the far-off idea that with each conversation becomes more concrete and less like a foggy half-whim.

Settling into a home. Finding your people. Transferring jobs. Finally being able to leave your dog out of the crate for more than two hours at a time without him destroying a fourth throw pillow.

These can seem like small things, intangible and un-trackable.

But these are also big things, grounding and rooting you in the ordinariness between the segments marked by the first kind of change.

We’re in the midst of a gentle change now, ministry and law enforcement still making up our days but in slightly different contexts.

A degree of change, if you will. The slow-developed prospect of something new – that still requires walking out trust in a faithful God. Isn’t that always the case?

Last night for dinner we ate this BLT salad with creamy basil dressing, and I considered its resemblance to the sandwich – similar, yet markedly different. I devoured it while thinking about slow-formed, quiet change. About our transition being gentle, familiar, and brand new all at once. Like that salad. And my gratitude increased.

I’ve never shared a recipe here before, but this one is relevant and salty/smoky/herby, so it would be rude of me not to. I write it here like I made it – loose and un-calculated.

Full disclosure: the dressing was originally a basil vinaigrette made with olive oil for a green bean recipe, but I wanted to make it creamy for this salad. For simplicity, I made it a second time with the mayo. Start with a few tablespoons of vinegar, and increase if you like it more zingy.

BLT Salad w/ Creamy Basil Dressing

For the salad:

• Lettuce of choice (we used buttercrunch)
• Bacon, cooked and diced into big pieces
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Cucumber, diced
• Green onion, sliced (chives would also work)
• Small handful of grated cheese (we used white cheddar)

Toss all to combine. Tip: more bacon is always better. Avocado, corn cut from the cob, bell pepper, or croutons would also be delicious, and I topped the whole thing with a couple grinds of fresh black pepper.

For the dressing:

• Small handful of basil
• Small garlic clove
• A few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (depending on your tastes – add more if you prefer)
• Generous squeeze of mayo
• Dash of salt and pepper

Use a food processor or small blender to combine basil, garlic and vinegar. Once blended, add mayo, salt and pepper, and blend once more. I like to keep homemade dressing in a mason jar for easy shaking.