Roasted Mushroom and Carrot Salad

Wasn't this year's Memorial Day weekend one of the best? Here in Seattle, we usually don't expect the weather to be particularly sunny. So we plan accordingly. This year almost all of my friends stayed in town and we all made the decision to just be spontaneous. And it turned out to be a successfully unplanned adventure of a weekend.

This salad was a result of such (un)plans on Monday. Friday through Sunday I had had a sprinkling of social engagements, exercising engagements, grocery store engagements, and shopping engagements. So I indulged in a Monday of staying home and tackling one of those looming projects that I don't even know has been burdening me: going through a stack of at least a dozen magazines. 

My mom and I were talking the other day about how this shouldn't cause annoyance. We have chosen to subscribe to these magazines! And once we do actually start looking through them, we enjoy it. So why not get excited upon seeing them in the mailbox, rather than dread them, when they do bring value to our lives. Well life happens I suppose. We get busy. Mail piles form. Schedules fill.

I really did enjoy going through all of them and now have a small stack of ripped-out recipes to try. It felt even better to put all the magazines in the trunk of my car to sell at Half Priced Books. I now have two cleared out bedside baskets and hopefully the de-cluttering will ease my unknowing looming stress.

Roasted Mushroom and Carrot Salad
Makes 2 servings

This is quite a delightful afternoon salad, especially with a glass of vinho verde. The salad materialized in my mind after sifting through cooking magazine after cooking magazine.

2 cups mushrooms, quartered
2 cups baby carrots, halved
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup cooked Great Northern beans

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper

2 cups baby spinach
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper.

Combine mushrooms and carrots in a large bowl; drizzle with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon cumin, thyme, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Toss to evenly coat vegetables. Spread vegetables on the baking sheet.

Roast for 15 minutes; carefully stir. Roast for an additional 10 minutes. Add Great Northern beans to vegetables; stir well. Roast until vegetables are tender and beans are beginning to get a little crisp, 5 to 10 more minutes.

Whisk mustard, vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, dried parsley, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, sugar, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl.

Divide spinach among two serving plates; arrange hard-boiled eggs around edges. Toss roasted vegetables and beans in mustard vinaigrette. Spoon vegetables and beans onto the two serving plates.