Why can’t vegetables be plentiful and yummy all year long? I don’t know, but I intend to enjoy them while they’re around. This Summer Vegetable Tian is the perfect easy side to showcase the medley of delicious vegetables the summer has to offer.
I like to enjoy the natural subtle flavors of vegetables. I’m not all for frying or smothering with thick, rich sauces, but sometimes I want something a little more. This Summer Vegetable Tian lands half way between both worlds. The vegetables are sliced thin, seasoned only with a little salt, pepper, and thyme, and then topped with just a small amount of flavorful cheese. Roasting the vegetables magnifies their flavor and gives them just a hint of sweetness. It’s veggietastic.
Creamy cheeses work really well with this dish but I happened to have a four cheese Italian blend on hand so I used that.
Summer Vegetable Tian
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion ($0.42)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.11)
- 1 medium zucchini ($0.75)
- 1 medium yellow squash ($0.56)
- 1 medium potato ($0.77)
- 1 medium tomato ($0.71)
- 1 tsp dried thyme ($0.10)
- Salt & pepper ($0.05)
- 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese ($1.40)
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, optional garnish ($0.08)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic with olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (about 5 minutes).
- While the onion and garlic are sautéing, slice the zucchini, yellow squash, tomato, and potato thinly (1/4-inch slices). Make sure the potatoes are very thin so that they soften quickly while in the oven.
- Coat the inside of an 8×8″ casserole dish with non-stick spray. Spread the sautéed onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Arrange the other sliced vegetables, stacked vertically like dominos, in an alternating pattern. Season the top of the vegetables generously with salt, pepper, and dried thyme.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with the shredded cheese, and bake without the foil for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown. Top with chopped fresh parsley for garnish, if desired.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
How to Make a Vegetable Tian – Step By Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 400ºF. Dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic with 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until soft and transparent.
Place the sautéed onion and garlic in the bottom of an 8×8 (or similar size) casserole dish.
Wash one potato, zucchini, yellow squash, and tomato to remove any dirt or debris.
Slice the vegetables into 1/4-inch thick slices. The tomato and potato had very large diameters compared to the squash, so I cut them in half before slicing to make them a more similar size.
Layer the potato, zucchini, yellow squash, and tomato in the dish over the onion and garlic in an alternating pattern. It doesn’t need to be pretty, just squeeze them in there any way you can.
Season the top of the vegetables generously with salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven.
After baking for 30 minutes, remove the foil and top with about 1 cup of shredded Italian blend cheese. Return the Summer Vegetable Tian to the oven (without the foil) and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Top with a little fresh chopped parsley for garnish, if desired.
Helllooooo gorgeous.
Original Photos
I just tried this last night and it was so yummy. The vegetables were tender but not to the point that they just fell apart. I should have been more generous with the salt and pepper. I paired this with a mix of wild and brown rice with mushrooms in the slow cooker and pan fried cabbage. The left overs heated great for my breakfast the next morning.
This recipe looks amazing – I think we’re going to try it this weekend. The farmers market has tons of awesome looking veggies just waiting to be cooked up like this!
Re: your comment about the mandolin – what happened? I only ask because I made your recipe for Wonderpot Pasta last night (it was AMAZING!!!) and I sliced off the tip of my ring finger on the mandolin while slicing the onions. Most excruciating pain ever and I had two c-sections! I just got the mandolin for Christmas and had been anxiously looking for a way to use it – now I wish I had left it in the box :(
Luckily, I didn’t actually cut myself. :) It’s just very scary and a pain in the butt to clean! I’d much rather just try to slice thin with a knife. :)
Amazing ideal and love this….I am doing this recipe right now.
Hate the thyme spice. Eeuuucckkkk. Minus the onions on the bottom and cross out the thyme, and I think I’d like it better. Thyme is too strong.
I love when I made this it was a little soupy with all the veggie juices. I added approx a tbsp of corn starch and made a sauce.
This recipe was easy and delicious! I made sure I cut the potatoes thin (I doubled the recipe). Everyone loved it and leftovers were even better! Thanks Beth
Looks fancy and difficult, simple to do.
Yelp, made this one too. It was delicious. I usually substitute the potato for a sweet potato and go light on the salt. Yum!
I love how beautiful it is! But mostly I love that it is something that I can eat with all of my food allergies. I can’t wait to try it and after looking at this great site, I pre-ordered your recipe book with Amazon. Can’t wait until it comes out! I will come back and rate the recipe after I try it this weekend
I would love to make this for our office potluck! Seems simple and affordable :) I do have one question. Do I need to peel the Yellow squash?
Nope! Summer squash has a very thin, tender skin so it doesn’t need to be peeled. :)
this is my go to lunch during the day while i’m home! i like to mix it up though. i usually sub the russet potato for a sweet potato, i omit the cheese (dairy allergy), and i sprinkle the top w/some potlatch seasoning from williams-sonoma (it’s always in the cabinet). truly one of my favorite dishes!
Hiya, going to make this tonight- what accompaniments (if any) would you suggest serving it with? Thnx
It would really go great with just about anything! Grilled meat, baked chicken, casseroles, anything :)
We had this for dinner last night, and it was fantastic! My only regret is that we didn’t save any leftovers. My mind said you don’t need seconds, but my mouth was too busy shoveling in the veggies to listen.
This was a great way to use some of my extra squash! I used eggplant instead of potatoes and sliced the onions and put them with the rest of the veggies and used half as much cheese, just parmesan. I was worried about it being soupy based on other reviews so I sliced everything, salted it and let it sit for about 20 minutes. There was a little liquid in the bottom but not much. It was very good, something different for zucchini and squash.
You’re a genius. ‘Nuff said. http://www.cruelironing.com/blog.html