Rule #62 Salad

"Rule #62: Don't take yourself too damn seriously"-anonymous

A group of women sat around a sewing circle one Sunday afternoon. Born and raised in members of high society, these women prided themselves on their mastery of the art of social graces. The hostess, while passing around a silver platter of tea cookies complimented Suzy on her stitching "woooo Suuuuuzy, looook at that!! You are amazing! I WISH I had YOUR talent, I can hardly sew together a pincushion!" To which Suzy said, "Oh no, YOUR work is much BETTER than mine, mine is ugly, don't look at it" And then Judy said, "nonesense, you both are so talented. Look at me, I can't do ANYTHING right." And then Betsy said "Judy, your work is FABULOUS, I can't believe you would SAY that. Compared to yours my stitching looks like it was done by a 2 year old. I WISH I had a creative bone in my body, but I don't. Not one. I have never been creative. My sister is the creative one." 

The infectious words were passed around the circle with the cookie tray. The women were just speaking the way they had been taught by each other to speak. Carefully and appropriately sewn together with grace and modesty, the words were like the garments in their laps, not a single one had bothered to try them on for size. 

Humility is not something a person either has or doesn't have. Having humility is a choice to be real and ahem..expose yourself. NO NO NO NO NO Put your clothes back on, I didn't mean it like that. 

Try speaking your truth in every moment. Your words hold power if you speak what you mean. You may get thrown out of your sewing circle, there will be others. Go deeper. Connect on a level that is real for you. Try yourself on. 

Toss 2 Tbsp olive oil into your salad bowl

add one bunch basil (a handful) chopped

1/2 orange bell pepper diced

1 red pepper diced

11 reconstituted (pour hot water over and let soften for 10 min) sundried tomatoes

3 green onions, diced

1-2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese torn into bite sized bits

2 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp salad vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

cook 1 large pkg (5 servings) green and white tortellini 

drain pasta and drizzle with olive oil to keep from sticking in the strainer

In the empty pasta pan, add 1 Tbsp olive, 1/2 diced red onion 2-3 cloves mashed spicy garlic (if you are not sure if your particular garlic is spicy, taste it) and a pinch of salt

heat until onions are soft, then add the tortellini back to the pot. Remove from heat and toss. Pour back into the strainer to cool (I actually threw my strainer into the freezer because Christina came home and I was excited for her to try today's salad)

When the pasta is almost cool toss with the rest of the salad and serve. 

Christina's vote: "Stretches my definition of salad a bit. Great flavors, a full meal alone."