Tourlou (Greek vegetable stew)

One of my favorite veg-friendly restaurants in Rochester is Aladdin's. I used to work in the neighborhood and would often get take-out to take back to the teen center. My good friend and former coworker, Greta, recommended that I get this dish the first time I went. As usual, Greta knows the best of everything in this fabulous town. I've been hooked ever since.

This evening, after a very stormy day, I managed to leave work with clear skies and a cool breeze. I hopped on my bike and headed to the Monroe Village Farmer's market, by far my favorite of all the city markets. I had gazpacho on the brain, but after I saw a beautiful eggplant, I decided to try to replicate Aladdin's tourlou recipe.

The key here is cooking this for a long time. I mean, at least 45 minutes. The longer it cooks, the better. I didn't really use a recipe, but I'll probably look for some to tweak this recipe. So here goes:

1 medium eggplant, sliced and quartered
1 smallish zucchini, sliced
1 small onion, sliced (I didn't use this, but I'm sure it would be lovely)
1 block tofu, frozen*, thawed and cubed 
1 large clove garlic, minced
2-3 Tbs olive oil (I used MUCH more than this, to replicate Aladdin's dish!)
1 14-oz can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes (probably any chunky tomato sauce would work)
1-2 Tbs lemon juice



Saute the eggplant, zucchini, garlic and tofu in the olive oil. I used less oil to start so that I got some nice browning. Not necessary, but a nice touch.

Cook for about 15 minutes, until the tofu is nicely brown. Add the tomatoes and about a half can of water. Cook on medium to medium high heat for 30 minutes until the zucchini and eggplant break apart and incorporate into the sauce (you may have to smoosh them with a spoon). Add the lemon juice and another splash of olive oil. That's it!

I'm going to eat it on toast once Adam comes in from doing yardwork. If you have parsley, make sure you put a bit on top.

*Aladdin's uses chickpeas, but I didn't have any. Freezing tofu is a nice technique if you're sick of plain tofu, or if you're looking for something that won't fall apart as much. If you have bad luck with frying breaded tofu (it falls apart, it doesn't soak up the breading, etc.) I would suggest trying this out. It's also a great way to keep tofu around without having to change the water daily (we buy our tofu in bulk. If you buy it in the individual containers, no water changing necessary).

I also have another fruit crisp in the oven. This time I'm using peaches, rhubarb, blueberries, and plums. I put both nutmeg and cardamom in, so we'll see if it's a bit too spicy.