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When I was a child, my mum used to take me and my brothers with her to work during the summer vacation, when she wasn't on holiday too. Oh the fun we had!
We used to run from office to office, climb on the parking lot's trees and raid the supply room for treasures (that would usually be an odd shaped eraser or pen) As we got older, we learned how to use the typing machine (yes young readers, I come from a different era) and the copy machine! You could obviously imagine the things we did with it and all he body parts that went through the Xerox scan!

Some other days, and for reasons I can't remember, we had to spend the day with our father instead, in his small textile shop downtown. We were too young to care for the endless shopping street where the shop was located in. Instead, we somehow managed to occupy ourselves with some textile scraps and thread.
But on the days when business was going slow, dad used to take us for a morning treat. A hefty bowl of Fool Mdammas. A spiced lemony mix of fava beans and chickpeas.

Since then the small restaurant has long closed, but I still remember it with its every detail. The white tile floors, the old wooden tables, the woven bamboo chairs, Fairuz songs playing in the background and the mustached Fawwal (the fool cook) in a white apron singing along with her.
Dad always ordered his Fool without cumin, he never liked the spice, but I always made sure mine had some in it. Our order would arrive with a mountain of fresh vegetables sides, warm flat bread and a jug of extra virgin olive oil for the final drizzle. The Fawwal would mumble a "Sahtayn" (bon appetit) through his thick gray mustache before going back to his stove, and we'd dig in. That deliciously fragrant bowl of Fool Mdammas would carry me through the day up until dinner time!

Even till today, I still love waking up in the family home to the smell of freshly prepared Fool Mdammas, and it always brings back the precious memory of those late summer breakfast dates with my dad in that small restaurant next to his shop.
Happy Father's Day papa!

*We celebrate father's day on June 21st in Lebanon :)

Fool Mdammas - Fava Beans and Chickpeas breakfast bowl - Vegan Challenge Day 13
Serves 2:
(soak the dried fava beans and chickpeas in seperate bowls the night before in clean water, add a teaspoon of baking soda to each bowl, this will help tenderize their skins when cooked. The next day, drain and cook seperately in clean water until tender)

- 2 cups cooked fava beans
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 3 cloves of garlic crushed
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Salt, pepper and cumin to taste

To accompany the Fool:
- sliced tomatoes
- sweet onions or scallions
- Mint leaves
- Any other vegetables of your choice (radish, cucumber etc..)
- Pita bread, flour tortillas or flat bread

Put all the ingredients together in a pot and bring to a slow simmer. Add a couple tablespoons of water and mash about 40% of the beans with a heavy object (bottle bottom, back of a ladle, or pestle). This will emulsify the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Serve warm with a drizzle of olive oil on top and all the vegetable sides.

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