Spinach-arugula salad with oven roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and croutons

Let's pretend it's summer!

As happy as I was last weekwith the first sign of spring, as drairy it is again today. Just went outside for some skating in the park with my kids, but went straight home when my ears started to freeze off.. There is this saying in Holland, which goes like this:

 

'March moves it's tail, april does as it pleases, and may adds some more..' When i write this down in english it sounds ridiculous, due to the fact it makes no sense at all, and doen's even rhyme! Well, anyway, it means we're not yet done with wintery days, and as beautiful the weather seemed to be last week, as cold and wet it is today, which isn't particularly an exception for this time of the year. It actually means carpe diem. Just run outside, when you see a bit of light! That rhymes for sure.

 

So. If the sun won't come out just yet, we just have to pretend. And nothing beats a summery salad on your plate. It's weekend right? Pour yourself a nice glass of wine, mayby an icecold Chardonnay, and enjoy the crispy spinach salad with sun dried oven roasted tomatoes. By the way, you can save these tomatoes for about two weeks in your fridge by cover them with olive oil, in a sealed container. Very nice over some pasta.

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Ingredients (4 persons)

 

Ovenroasted tomatoes:

 

2 cups of cherry tomatoes

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

freshly ground pepper and seasalt

fresh thyme

Directions:

 

Cover a  large bowl with baking paper, clean the cherry tomatoes, sprinkle them with olive oil and some balsamic vinegar, pepper and salt, and cut some fresh thyme on top of it. Mix it well, and set in preheated oven at 150C / 300F degrees, for about 1,5 hour. When it goes too fast, turn down the heat a bit.

 

Salad: 

 

1 cup of mushrooms 

1 avocado

2 slices of sourdough bread

2 cups of cherry tomatoes

4 large handfuls of spinach

4 small handfuls of arugula

fresh thyme

2 cloves of garlic

100 gr. feta

 

Directions:

 

Devide a hand of spinach per plate, and the arugula on top. 

Chop the avocado, and devide over the plates as well.

Cut the mushrooms in half, stirfry them in 2 spoons of olive oil, set aside.

Cut the bread into little peaces, and stirfry them with 1 chopped garlic clove, some thyme, and oive oil until theyturn golden en crispy.

Devide the tomatoes, mushrooms, croutons, avocado and feta on top of the salad,and sprinkle your home made vinaigrette on top.

 

Homemade vinaigrette:

Mix together:

  

7 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp of lime/lemon

1 tsp of good mayonaise

1tsp of mustard

1 garlic clove, chopped or crushed

freshly ground pepper and salt

1 tspn of brown sugar, or honey