Anybody remember the 1960’s tune, “Love is Blue”? “Blue, blue, my world is blue. Blue is my world when I’m without you.”  Well today I’m re-writing the lyrics a bit!  Everyone sing along!

Bleu, bleu, my meal is bleu. Bleu is the meal I’m about to serve you!

Bleu cheese is one of those unusual foods that people either really enjoy or totally dislike: a cheese that is spotted or veined throughout with blue, blue-gray, or blue-green mold and has a very distinctive odor. Understandably, some people can’t get past the appearance or smell . . . but, if you’re able to do so . . . or if you’re already a bleu cheese aficionado, you’re gonna love this meal!

Black & Bleu Salad
Serves 3

Ingredients
1 lb. of ground sirloin
Small head of chopped lettuce
2 cups of spinach leaves
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
2 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
2 carrots
1/4 cup of coarsely chopped red onion
1 clove garlic
1 avocado
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 tsp. of seasoning salt
Dash of pepper

Bleu cheese dressing (I use the Pine Club brand – delicious!)

Chop the lettuce and remove stems from the spinach leaves and then toss the two together.  Cut the red & yellow bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash and carrots into ¼ inch wide and 2” long strips. Combine all and place in a large frying pan with the olive oil. Add the crushed clove of garlic, chopped red onion, salt and pepper and then sauté for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  While the vegetables are cooking, make 3 ground sirloin patties and grill or fry until done according to your taste.

Divide and spread the lettuce & spinach mixture onto 3 plates. Top with the sautéed vegetables. Apply a circle of avocado slices and halved cherry tomatoes and place the grilled burger right in the center. Drizzle with bleu cheese dressing and enjoy!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
The song says “Blue, blue, my world is blue. Blue is my world when I’m without you”.  But as followers of Jesus Christ, we don’t have to be blue because we’re not alone when we face the trials of this life! Deuteronomy 31:6 says “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  The One who created us, our loving Heavenly Father, is the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end. He is already there in our tomorrows and He knows exactly what we’re going to be facing before we even get there.  Who better to be there before we even arrive? Psalm 46:1-3 says: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

In Habakkuk 3:17-19, it says: “Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.”  Habakkuk’s vision ended with a beautiful word picture: No matter what happens, I will find joy in the Lord and he will make me as surefooted as a deer. Habakkuk does not say that the Lord will make his way easy, but, rather, that the Lord will sustain him along his path.

And so Matthew 6:34 makes perfect sense when it tells us “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself”, and Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you”, and Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Blue, blue, I will not be blue. Jesus Christ is with me and He will see me through!

Life.
I can’t control it,
direct it,
correct it,
or perfect it;
but when I submit it,
commit it,
and to the Lord give it,
the burden becomes His and not mine
And whatever the situation that lies ahead,
He’ll give me the grace to endure it,
and someday quite soon,
I won’t even recall it
When the reality of eternity is mine . . .
and there’s great peace in the knowledge of that.

–Cheri Henderson