We’re hunkered and bunkered down, waiting for hurricane Sandy to stop by. At the moment we’ve got driving rain and fairly wild wind. But we still have power, so I can’t complain. We’re all a little stir crazy, but I’m actually having a nice day. We’re all together, the boys didn’t have school, and we were asked to stay off the roads, so David is home, too. I baked a cake. I made a big pot of sweet potato, red bean, kale and pumpkin ale chili that will hopefully keep warm for dinner if the power goes out, and I’m currently drinking the rest of the pumpkin ale. We’ll sit and draw for a while. I can’t complain!

I’m not up to my usual rambling nonsense, so I made a playlist about storms, floods, winds and rain. I’m open to suggestions for songs to add!

And I’ll just tell you quickly about this yummy meal. Loosely based on my understanding of tunisian carrot salads and on Ethiopian ful, this is a spicy puree of carrots, olives, and fava beans (the dried and cooked kind, I used a canned variety) Quick to make, and delicious with these caraway seed flatbreads.

FOR THE PUREE

1 can (15 oz) dried cooked fava beans (ful)
4 or 5 small carrots, washed or peeled
1/3 cup black olives
2 cloves garlic – minced
1 t cumin
1 t smoked paprika
1/2 t coriander powder
1/4 t cayenne (or to taste)
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of half a lemon
salt and plenty of black pepper
diced tomato for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425. Cut the carrots into 3/4 inch chunks, coat lightly with olive oil, spread in a single layer on a baking sheet, and roast till they’re soft inside and browned outside – 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan over medium heat, warm 1 T of olive oil. Add the garlic, and cook for about a minute till it starts to brown. Add the beans, spices, and a few tablespoons of water. Cook for about ten minutes till the beans are warm and flavorful.

Combine the beans, carrots, olives, olive oil and lemon in a blender of food processor, and blend until it’s just as smooth as you like it. Add about 1/2 cup water to make it a nice dippable consistency. Season well with salt and lots of pepper, and garnish with diced tomatoes, if you like them.

FLATBREAD

1 t dry yeast
1 t sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup warm water

3 cups flour
1 t caraway seeds
lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 t salt
2 T olive oil

Combine the yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup each flour and warm water. Leave aside for about half an hour to get bubbly. In a large bowl combine the flour, caraway seeds, salt and pepper. Make a well the center and add the olive oil, and the bubbly yeast mixture. Mix well, and add about 1 cup of warm water. You want to have a soft kneadable dough. Add more flour or water as necessary. Knead for about five minutes, and set aside in a warm place to rise for a few hours.

Fold/punch down, and set aside for about another hour.

Preheat the oven to 500 and put a baking sheet inside. Break the dough into 6 parts. On a lightly floured counter, roll each ball to be about 1/4 inch thick. (You can do two at at time.)

Transfer them to the hot baking sheet, let cook a few minutes on one side, then flip. Bake till it starts to get brown spots on top, them move to the top rack and broil them for a minute or two.