Saturday, July 9, 2011

Roasted Asparagus Salad & The Art of Listening...

Photobucket
"If speaking is silver, then listening is gold."
~ Turkish Proverb

For so many of us, talking is easy. Listening...not so much. Why is that? Perhaps it's your child recounting every single detail of their favorite movie *for the umpteenth time.* Or your friend explaining every single gritty detail of her messy break up. A relative offering their unsolicited advice on fill in the blank . A stranger rambling on about their political opinions. A spouse describing every single detail as they give you the long version of "the story."

Sweet Bellas, never forget the sheer beauty, wisdom and importance of listening....


Listening can be laborious and require lots of patience, but I firmly believe it demonstrates our love. Anytime we do something for someone that doesn't come naturally to us, it exemplifies our love for them. If listening were effortless, it would also be a lot less loving, yes? We also demonstrate our love for God by listening to Him, not just through obedience, but by really focusing on His words to us, by striving to understand its implications, and being intentional about responding.

As with anything else, listening gets easier with repetition. It may start out as a challenge, and you may find your thoughts wandering at first, but it does get easier with practice. In this situation, I'm convinced that nothing else says “I love you” like speaking less and listening more.

This salad is the last of 3 meals I had a chance to make both of my Grandmothers. It's another dish that screams Summer. It's light and crisp and a beautiful compliment to any main dish but also bold enough to stand alone, perfect to bring to a BBQ or girlfriend lunch.


Photobucket

For the complete recipe to this scrumptious Roasted Asparagus Salad, click HERE and visit the wonderfully talented Velva at Tomatoes on the Vine. She turned me on to this salad and you will love her presentation! She's a special soul and you will enjoy every moment discovering her world.
Mangia!

17 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous salad! So refreshing and yet another wonderful gift to your grandmoms! Wish I'd been there to see them being spoiled by your gifts of love to them!
    And the gift of listening...truly an art...as you said, "nothing else says I love you like speaking less and listening more"!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Learning to listen is difficult for many of us. It takes maturity to put our own thoughts, beliefs or impatience aside, and just listen. IT is amazing what you can learn when you listen.

    This was a wonderful post. I appreciate the shout out on the salad. Yours looks divine.

    Cheers.
    Velva

    ReplyDelete
  3. Now that's what I call salad! How wonderful and delicious. Listening is definitely an art and it's not easy. I agree with Velva, it is amazing what you can learn when you listen. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Delish! It's hard for me not to like anything with avocado though. My favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am working on my listening skills. I have to remember to pause and make the time. Your salad is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The message that I've been getting over the last year has been "Listening is an act of Love" and this just reinforces that to me. What a beautifully written post! Thank you so much for sharing from your heart. Now about this amazing salad....it is sooo beautiful. I could eat the entire plate. I absolutely love roasted asparagus. Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love what you wrote about listening being an act of love! SO true!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for dropping by from SITS. Your blog is making me hungry!

    ReplyDelete
  9. listening is a skill that everyone needs to practice, there are times when that is the greatest gift you can ever give another person. Thanks for reminding us of that.

    Your salad looks like the perfect summer dish, I know my wife would love it!
    Velva is such a wonderful person its no surprise that she came up with this creation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful salad! I want one now!

    Visiting from SITS!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my gosh, I want to dive in, face first, into that salad. I am going to go make it right now! Visiting from SITS and so glad I did!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh, and p.s. - LOVED the message of the post.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I LOVE asparagus... This salad looks sooo good! Thanks for sharing :) And I love the rest of the post too! Very true, all that stuff :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Another thoughtful post...another tempting salad. Thank you for sharing another beautiful recipe. I hope you had a lovely weekend, and I hope you have an even lovelier week. Many blessings and much love...

    ReplyDelete
  15. What a beautiful, refreshing salad! And thank you for the thoughtful message about listening.

    ReplyDelete
  16. "We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is twice as hard as talking."

    I don't know who's quote this is, but it's all so very true. We all have the need to express our thoughts, and feelings, but when we learn the "art of listening"...that's when communication sets in to action! That's what makes us more effective human beings. Listening is taught to all of us in early childhood...but it gets harder, and harder as we grow into adulthood. It's a true gift we can give to others and to ourselves, by listening to our own conscience (selves) as well...that is guided by a "higher power" that can lead to love ourselves first...and than others!

    Lovely post...as always and a gorgeous, colorful salad, with a "soul"...so thoughtfully, and artistically put together. Velva is a favorite of mine, will stop by her blog to comment.

    BTW-Bella, I have an award for you to claim on my blog.
    Congratulations my dear...well deserved!
    Sending love your way:DDD

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a lovely post! Yes listening takes a bit of practice perhaps, but as you stated, a show of love as well as respect is the result :)
    Gorgeous salad and I will visit your friend as well :)

    ReplyDelete

AddThis

Share |
Related Posts with Thumbnails