Monday, May 10, 2010

Sensational Sides

I meant to tell you about some more great eats before heading out of town for the weekend, but ran out of time!  Seems like the story of my life these days :)   I brought these two sides/salads to a party and didn't have anything to take home, so I'm guessing they were a hit!  While they both had "salad" in the name, they seemed more like "sides" to me, so that's where you'll find them in my recipe file.  I love throwing warm roasted veggies and grains in my salads, so apparently I don't know where to draw the line!


The first was Deb's Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad.  I thought the marriage was a unique one, but really liked the interplay of the smooth avocado flesh with the firm-yet-yielding roasted carrots.  Hmm, yeah...  there's not really a "better" way to say that :)



Another winner from Ricki, the Warm Chickpea & Artichoke Salad utilized two things I already had in my pantry, so that made it even easier!  I could've easily eaten this as a meal, and will likely be making it for myself again soon.

Have you had any "non-traditional" salads lately?

26 comments:

Cara said...

wow - don't know how I missed that SK recipe, it sounds fantastic! Sweet roasted carrots are delish and everything is better with avocado. And that second salad - um, yum! I love the use of the almonds in there too. Definitely bookmarking these!

Lisa (bakebikeblog) said...

oh that roasted carrot salad looks wonderful!!!!

Joanne said...

Salads from two of my favorite bloggers, given the thumbs up by you (another favorite) - how could they be bad! I love the sound of carrots with avocado...an unlikely yet delicious pairing!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

oh that artichoke salad...that looks superb!

have a super week, Shannon!

Lauren said...

Both salads sound and look yummy - I've recently discovered that I AM in fact a fan of artichoke hearts (I hadn't been for a while...).

I'm always on the lookout for different types of salads because that of the plain ol' green variety is getting rather boring. With the colder weather that has descended on Boston, I have a renewed interest in eating warm salads!

Anonymous said...

Yum! Two rocking salads - great pics, from great bloggers :)

Ricki said...

So glad you liked the artie/chickpea combo! I actually DID eat it as a meal ;) The other one sounds delish, too--I'm sure that play of textures would be yummy. I haven't had any truly unusual salads lately, but enjoyed a more conventional roasted sweet potato and black bean salad the other night--still delicious!

Dewi said...

I definitely eying on that carrot and avo salad. It look sensational indeed!

Anonymous said...

I have to try that carrot and avocado salad, it sounds amazing!

Unknown said...

Both look fabulous! I love roasted vegetables and grains too, and I agree they make any salad better!

Elina said...

Both of these really do look fantastic, Shannon! :)

Juliana said...

Wow, roasted carrot...great! And the salad look as yummie as the carrots :-)

Kerstin said...

I love pantry meals - the chickpea dish looks so tasty! And I would have never thought to pair carrots and avocado - how interesting. I actually don't like raw carrots, so I should try roasting them since I bet they're much better that way!

Natalie said...

I'm making that chickpea salad soon--yum!!

Kelsey said...

Wow! Those salads look DELICIOUS (especially the chickpea and artichoke)! I love anything that has the name artichoke in it...
Anyway, I'm an intern for Healthy Monday, a non-profit group that aims to use Monday as the day to promote healthy habits and behaviors. We're looking for bloggers who would be interested in posting a Healthy Monday tip each week on their blogs. You can check out our website at: www.healthymonday.org if you'd like. Let me know if you would be interested and I can give you more information. Great blog!

Erica said...

owww I totally want to try that chickpea and artichoke salad- that is something BOTH Josh and I would love. I always love when my dishes go quickly at parties :)

Reeni said...

These both sound really good! Carrot and avocado is not a combination I've had together before. Very unique. In a good way.

Diana said...

Agreed - I would call those exciting side dishes (ex-side-ing?)! Love roasted carrots, so they could only get better with avocado.

Brittany said...

Yum- the warm chickpea and artichoke salad looks amazing!!

I've had a few nontraditional salads myself - including a dessert salad (Watergate) and a quinoa salad. the quinoa salad was actually a recipe from Ricki as well. She's prue genius, no?

Kelly @ Healthy Living With Kelly said...

YUM!! That looks amazing and perfect for summer!!! Thanks Shannon!

Kathleen said...

The roasted carrot salad sounds amazing!

vanillasugarblog said...

roasted avocado? oh heavens yes please. wow. you make the best stuff.

Ali said...

Those recipes both look phenomenal!

I recenly tried making a new recipe: chicken lettuce wraps - and they were delicious!

Sophie @ yumventures said...

I love side dishes, and these look amazing! Yes please avocado!

sophia said...

Shannon, I plan to have a non-traditional salad soon. It's not even a salad. It's a deep-fried artery clogging junk disguised as a "salad". Think, deep-fried dough, some raw cucumbers, pineapples, all doused in sweet, sticky syrup! :D

tasteofbeirut said...

I am a big salad person and these sounds so good! Thanks for giving me ideas, I am often in a rut!

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