Creamy Avocado Roasted Vegetable Flatbread -- Something Worth Making Between the Ritual Soups

The clocks went back Sunday and the early dark settled in and the woodstove went onto its full schedule. I have been keeping the stove fed at six, ten, two, six, ten for forty-three years, the same five feedings, the same long-burning rounds at bedtime, the same pre-dawn waking to add the first wood of the day. The schedule is the spine. November is the month the spine becomes important again after the easier shoulder-season weeks of October when the stove was a comfort rather than a necessity. By the second week of November the stove is back to being the central operating fact of the house, and I am back to being the steward of the stove.

Made the lentil soup Monday — the November first lentil discipline, thick and coriander-spiced and the same recipe I have made every first Monday of November for as long as I can remember keeping track. Bill called Monday evening to report his caldo verde was on the stove for the same evening, which is the parallel ritual we have established over four years now, and we compared the two soups by phone the way we have done for the past three Novembers. His caldo verde was, by his account, the best version yet. My lentil soup was, by my account, exactly the same as last year, which was the same as the year before, which is the entire point of a ritual soup.

The blog post for the week was about the November cooking schedule — the lentil soup, the bean nights, the chowders and stews and braises that come into the rotation now and that hold through the cold months. The post was practical, not sentimental, and the comments came in from cooks at various stages of their own November transitions, several of them asking for the lentil soup recipe (which I posted in the comment thread), several of them sharing their own November first-soup traditions. A widower in Maine wrote in to say his wife had always made beef stew on the first cold night of November and that he had finally made one himself this year and that it had brought her back into the kitchen for an hour, which was as much as he had hoped for. I responded briefly. I told him: that is exactly what cooking is for in this stage of life. He replied with a thank-you. The exchange is one of dozens like it that the blog has produced, and each one matters, and each one is its own complete small thing.

Anna texted Tuesday — she and Marcus are coming up next weekend with a bottle of wine and the intention of cooking dinner for me, which Anna had decided was an appropriate next step in the introduction of Marcus to the family. I told her I would be glad to be cooked for. The image of two thirty-somethings in my kitchen making me dinner is one I had not entertained much, and I am looking forward to it more than I expected to be.

Anna and Marcus arriving next weekend with the intention of cooking dinner got me thinking about the meals that live between the ritual soups—the ones that do not require a full day’s commitment but still feel like real cooking, the kind of thing two thirty-somethings could pull off in an unfamiliar kitchen without anxiety. This creamy avocado roasted vegetable flatbread has been one of those in-between meals in my November rotation for a few years now: it comes together in under an hour, the oven does most of the work, and it sits comfortably alongside the heavier bean nights and chowders without competing with them.

Creamy Avocado Roasted Vegetable Flatbread

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 flatbreads or naan (store-bought or homemade)
• 2 large ripe avocados, halved and pitted
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into half-moons
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
• Fresh basil leaves, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roast the vegetables. Arrange the bell pepper, zucchini, red onion, and cherry tomatoes on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Toss to coat evenly and spread into a single layer. Roast for 22—25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the edges are lightly caramelized.
3. Make the avocado spread. While the vegetables roast, scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl. Add the lime juice, minced garlic, and a pinch of salt. Mash with a fork until smooth and creamy, leaving a little texture if preferred. Taste and adjust salt.
4. Warm the flatbreads. In the last 4 minutes of vegetable roasting, brush the flatbreads lightly with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and lay them directly on the oven rack or on a second baking sheet. Warm until just toasted at the edges, about 3—4 minutes.
5. Assemble. Spread a generous layer of the creamy avocado mixture over each warm flatbread, going nearly to the edges. Divide the roasted vegetables evenly among the four flatbreads.
6. Finish and serve. Scatter feta crumbles over the top if using, then finish with fresh basil leaves. Serve immediately while the flatbreads are still warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 390 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 8g | Sodium: 430mg