Tourlou Tourlou!

tourlou tourlou (3)

Tourlou tourlou is a funny name for a seriously tasty dish. The tou is pronounced like "too" (not like tour). Can you roll your Rs? I sure hope so because my high school Spanish teacher claimed that if you couldn't roll your Rs, you were a mutant. She was a special lady. But if you have issues with R-rolling, it's more authentic sounding to make a D sound. So it's like toodloo toodloo. Got it? You are most welcome for your Greek Lesson of the Day (:::Elly cues "The More You Know" backdrop. "Da da da daaaaa!":::)

Moving on, tourlou tourlou is basically a medley of vegetables roasted over a long period of time. It's essentially the same thing as briam, which you may have seen on the menu at your local Greek place. The vegetables vary frequently, but I would argue that potatoes and zucchini are usually staples. You can use anything I've used, plus green beans, okra...whatever you want. Except cauliflower. Don't use cauliflower because cauliflower is the debil. :P

So, big deal right? Roasted vegetables. Been there, done that. Not like this you haven't. By roasting the vegetables for a really long time, all of their natural sweetness comes out and makes this dish super delicious. So delicious, in fact, that my husband told me when he was reheating his leftovers at work, a virtual stranger stuck his face in front of the microwave to see what smelled so good.

This main dish is especially popular during times when Greeks don't eat meat, but it can also be a side dish for some type of protein. We ate this with some Greek-seasoned chicken breast. As I mentioned, the vegetables can vary as can the herbs. I've used dill and parsley in mine. There is something I just love about dill with certain vegetables, and especially with anything tomato-based.

vegetables

 (Mysteriously absent from photo: garlic)

Tourlou Tourlou
Serves 6-8 as a side

1 eggplant, sliced into about 1/2" slices (peeled or unpeeled, your call)
2 large zucchini, sliced
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 large yellow or vidalia onion, cut in half and then sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lbs. potatoes, peeled and sliced or cut into chunks
1 green bell pepper, sliced or cut into 1" bites
1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
fresh dill..oh, about 3T or so?
1/2 cup olive oil (you could probably get away with 1/3 but since everything else here is so healthy, it's ok to splurge)
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375. Toss all the vegetables, salt (use a healthy amount, it's a lot of vegetables!) and pepper, and the herbs with the olive oil in a large pan. Mix the crushed tomatoes with 1/2 cup of water and then pour the mixture over the whole pan.

It will look something like this:

tourlou tourlou (2)

Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 1.5 hours. Then it will look something like this. Oh sure, it's not the prettiest thing, but who cares? It tastes awesome.

tourlou tourlou

Nutritional Information for 1/8 of the casserole: Calories: 231 / Fat: 13.9g / Saturated Fat: 1.9g / Carbs: 25.7g / Fiber: 5.5g / Protein: 4.3g