Directions

1. Begin by roasting the carrots. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Reserve one carrot, and cut the rest into 1-inch pieces. Place cut carrots on a sheet tray, coating them with olive oil and seasoning them with salt.
3. Roast the carrots in the oven at 350° until tender, about 25 minutes.
4. Place a quarter of the roasted carrots into a blender, along with all the vinaigrette ingredients. Set the rest of the carrots aside for the salad. Process the ingredients in the blender until smooth. Set the vinaigrette aside.
5. Next, prepare the tapenade. Place the toasted sunflower seeds into a food processor and pulse until the seeds are mostly broken up. Pour in maple syrup, along with salt and pepper to taste. Pulse again, until chunky.
6. To prepare the salad, cut the romaine into bit-sized pieces and cut off the bottom of the sunflower sprouts. Rinse and dry both the greens. Assemble the salad by placing the romaine and sprouts into a bowl and dressing with your desired amount of carrot vinaigrette. Top the salad with the crumbled goat cheese, chunks of sunflower tapenade, and the rest of the roasted carrots. Shave the reserved raw carrot into ribbons and distribute atop the salad. Enjoy with a glass of cider.