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.
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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
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!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
Turned out awesome, Added eggplant too.
I had the same soupiness issue as mylovemovement, but the recipe itself was tasty!
First off I just want to say. I LOVE YOUR BLOG! :) I tried this recipe tonight and it was so fun and yummy. Thank you!
I found your blog via this recipe being pinned and my eyes being drawn to the awesome display and well, I think I’m going to be stuck here for a while now. So many fantastic recipes! Thanks :)
My oven usually just stores a bunch of junk, but I cleared it out and baked the Tian and a Focaccia (your no-knead recipe, but with chopped serrano integrated in the dough). The Tian + Focaccia along with some sliced turkey and ranch dressing made a bunch of great sandwiches! By the way, tomatoes cost only 69 cents a pound where I live. (I’m the “auditor” from before.)
This was good, but a challenge to get all the veggies cooked to done at the same time. Any tips?
It was definitely good enough to try again. Maybe next time I’ll slice the potatoes on the mandolin and make the rest a little thicker. I think sweet potato would be good here too, if that doesn’t spoil the summer veg theme.
I’m new to your site but love it so far. I made the Singapore noodles tonight and they were awesome. I have this dish on the menu this week as well as a few more if yours. I’m so glad I found you!
I tried this, I loved the look and the esthetic. But mine ended up really um soupy! I think there may be something about the cheese I used as everything was all good until I added the cheese… but it was still really good!!!
This has been the second or third recipe that I have tried from your blog. It turned out fantastic! So easy. Perfect recipe to use on all of those farmer’s market finds :O)
This was So delicious, we made it last night. The only thing I had to do differently was use cream cheese instead of italian cheese, because we didnt have italian cheese. It was AMAZING. Oh and I just sliced the onions with the rest of the vegetables. (thats what I get for not printing the recipe beforehand) but even they were still SO good! Thanks :)
Made this on Friday night, with fresh tomatoes and squash from the garden – it was spectacular!! I might season the onions next time with some fresh herbs (since I have them), since the effect is a half-steam half-roast of the veggies – I think some basil and rosemary would add nicely to the simplicity of the dish. One of my friends who ate with me recommended that, after softening the onions and garlic one could add chicken broth and reduce the resulting sauce until basically gone, just to add a layer of flavor… thanks for the recipe!!
Beth, I put a link to your blog on mine this morning.
I just microwaved them since nothing was crispy to begin with. I think the oven would take too long and the cheese would over brown in the process. But, that’s just personal preference :)
How is it for leftovers? Do you microwave, or put them in the oven again?
omg this looks amazing