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?