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.
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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
Found this via Pintrest – Its in the oven right now! Hope it tastes as good as it looks! :)
We loved this recipe. My sons finished it off the next day and asked for it the next week. I used a cheese mix the first time – yummy! Of course we’ll eat anything with cheese. The second time I added eggplant. I sliced it, coated it lightly with olive oil spray and broiled it lightly on both sides to reduce the water. That was good too. I haven’t made a bad recipe from your site yet and my very hungry boys are really loving them too. Thank you so much!
I made this today for the first time and even though I didn’t follow all instructions (some on accident), it came out great! Used diced onions and celery on the bottom, un-sauted with about 2tblsp of ponzu sauce, substituted red potato for regular, a dash of cayenne and had a five cheese mix as well as shredded parmesean. Dee-lish! I had a problem with some of the skins being too hard but I think that could be remedied with a thinner cut than I managed or just cooked a bit longer.
I made this last night and my brother-in-law LOVED it. He is such a health nut too Will make this again and again.
I made this last night and it was fantastic. I’m not normally a tomato fan, but their flavour really set off the dish and made me want to eat more.
Even more wonderful was the yummy leftovers that meant I didn’t have to eat canteen food for lunch!
I really like your site. Keep up the good work!
I’m going to have to make this tomorrow. My parents need a change in their diet and this recipe is perfect. Probably not going to add the whole cup of cheese and not so much salt, but that’s only because of Dr’s orders.
Thank you so much for writing this blog!
I made this last night and it was delicious. I will absolutely be making this again. I added some hot pepper flakes and butter to the onions. I mixed aged cheddar and mozzarella for the cheese topping. Wonderful flavour!
Love this recipe! I’ve made it several times. We use red fingerling potatoes and cherry tomatoes, I like the sweet flavor. I usually double the recipe Andy kids eat the entire dish as a meal.
I have made this several times and it is a hit every time. The veggies are always cooked to perfection and I have never had an issue with it coming out soupy. Most recently I have added cooked crumbled turkey sausage on top before the cheese layer.
I stumbled on this site via pinterest!!
And the moment I laid my eyes on this, I’ve been looking forward for the weekend to start making it…
Finally I just did it and it turned out amazing!!
I used carrots instead of squash (since it’s not available).
Although, it’s not that creamy as what is seen in your photos, probably because I used, mozzarella cheese? Nonetheless, it’s perfectly suit my taste bud :)
Will try to use combo cheese next time.
Thank you beth!! You’re a star!! :)
I made this last night for dinner. It was delicious! My boyfriend and I both loved it!
This was soooo good. My husband really enjoyed it as well. This was a great twist on our fresh veggies we have. So many options to mix it up a bit. I think I am gonna try putting greens on the bottom and layering veggies on top. Yummo!
Wow, this is so beautiful to look at and I am sure it tastes just as wonderful. Thank you for sharing!!
Tried this over the weekend and while I will have to tweak it a bit next time
(Did you know potatoes take longer to cook through than squash of the same thickness? Yeah, I should have thought of that sooner…)
it had great flavor and was devoured enthusiastically
(despite the slightly crunchy potatoes).
Sounds good, and with my own garden it won’t cost anything, can’t wait to try this.