Bev's Salad Dressing

and the last dressed salad.

The Last Dressed Salad:

Cleaning out my Mom’s fridge after her death.

Figuring out a dinner plan for her family.

Foraging for ingredients.

Looking out for what else was past its expiration date.

Missing how we used to tease her about that.

Stumbling upon her last batch of salad dressing.

Gathering ingredients.

Chopping the romaine.

Cutting up her last avocado from Costco.

Remembering how annoying it was to watch her cut an avocado.

Filling her sparkly Pyrex salad bowl with fridge leftovers.

Knowing this was Mom’s last dressed salad.

Feeling the weight of her loss.

Fighting over the avocados at the bottom of the bowl.

Reverting back to childhood.

Arguing with my brother over who got more.

This was all before the cutting board moved to the other side of the sink.

Another woman took over her kitchen,

her salad duties,

her husband.

No more Mom’s green salad at that house.

Sometimes grief is about salad.

Adapting the original recipe.

Bridging the gap between old and new.

Learning how to nourish yourself, the way your mother did.

I make salad for my own family with her sparkly Pyrex bowl now.

We sometimes add carrots to ours.

She would never.

originally shared Bev’s Green Salad on my blog, Shutterbean in 2010.

#keepgriefweird

Bev’s Salad Dresing

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 cup good olive oil

Add all of the ingredients to a small jar. Close jar with the lid and give a good shake, until dressing has emulsified. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Bev’s salad included:

-romaine

-Roma tomatoes

-green onions

-avocado

-sliced cucumbers

-love