Tourlou

 Tourlou or a summer vegetable medley.  

Ratatouille, the dish not the rat.  I am sure every country, at least here in the mediterranean has a version of this dish.  Summer vegetables, all lightly cooked in a pan on the stove top.  Quick, fresh, light (depending on the amount of olive oil you add) and delicious.

We are going to eat ours with feta cheese and just a little bit of bread, fresh for me and stale for the traditional man about the house.  Stale bread is better for mopping up the juices and doesn't go soggy.

This is what I'm cooking at the moment.

Chunks of

zucchini/courgette

 potato/patata

 eggplant/aubergine

 green pepper/capsicum

onion and garlic and a leftover leek

go**amit I forgot the garlic

Sweat all the vegetables in olive oil, as much as you like.  I only used a big spoonful in the beginning along with a little water but I added an extra swig of oil at the end when I turned off the stove.

Then I peeled and diced

3 fresh tomatoes blanched briefly in boiling water for a quick peel

and chopped

parsley and mint from the garden.

Salt and pepper and a sprinkle of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.

Don't stir it too much or you'll get mushy Vege.

It's best cooked in a wide shallow pot.  I was across the waters at the small village of Galatas a few weeks ago to get my second jab and visited the maiden aunts.  They had just cooked this, in their wide pot called a tablas, and absolutely insisted I sit down and eat with them.  You don't get away with not eating in that house but every thing is so well cooked, done from scratch that it's a treat to share their meal.

After about half an hour of a slow simmer our own lunch was ready so I could go and get a hair cut.

And it's vegan too, but not plant-based-whole-food-oil-free.  The latter is my latest fad.  No meat, eggs, dairy, no processed foods and no olive oil.  Laughing Out Loud.  No olive oil?  From every window of my house the view is an olive tree or a lemon tree.  But it's healthy.  Lots of vegetables, fruit, grains and legumes.  It's basically what we eat anyway in the summer, forgetting about the pork and fish.