Butternut Coconut Rice and Some Big Ole Salads

Let's take a break from soup posts, shall we? I have plenty more soups to share, but I also have lots of yummy salads, too. Like, for instance, exhibit A:

Baby arugula (my new obsession!), cucumbers, thinly sliced onions, grilled baby bellas, avocado, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and homemade white balsamic vinaigrette.

Not to be confused with my similar-looking, but slightly different, San Francisco Sourdough Salad (inspired by my earlier San Francisco post):

This is baby arugula, grape tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions, grilled baby bellas, avocado, chickpeas, cucumber, and homemade sourdough croutons, tossed with homemade white balsamic vinaigrette. Love. Love. LOVE this salad!!

Although the San Francisco Sourdough Salad is hearty enough for a main-dish, the other salad was a rather large side-dish to some Butternut Coconut Rice from Appetite for Reduction:

Roasted butternut squash, shallots, ginger, garlic, lime zest/juice, brown basmati rice, and coconut milk are mixed together and become super creamy and risotto-like. Mmmm. I'm thinking of experimenting with this recipe to make it more savory by substituting some white wine and sage for the lime juice, coconut milk, and ginger. It was definitely on the sweet side and I think it would be even better with a savory twist. We'll see!