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
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
Have you ever precooked this dish? I am wondering if it’s possible to do the first part of baking the night before or even the morning of and then reheat when I out the cheese on top?
I have a lot of things going into the oven and I am trying to save time and space
I feel like this one is best when baked fresh. I eat the leftovers and enjoy them, but they’re not quite as nice as they were when baked the first time around.
I used Gouda cheese ….. Bomb diggidy
I am wondering if anyone has tried this recipe with a turnip instead of potato and what the result was like if they did. I know its picky but I try to avoid eating too much potato and have recently tried eating turnips and really enjoy the flavor overall. Thanks
Made it twice and it is super delicious
Making this for the second time. My family LOVES this. We didn’t even put the cheese on top and it was still just fabulous. Thank you!
I have this in the oven on as I was scrolling through the comments I noticed that you sliced your tomatoes in half. I ended up using almost 3 tomatoes because I didn’t know you cut them. If you could could put step by step everything you did that would be very helpful.
It’s in the pictures and the recipe that she only used one tomato. Use common sense.
Made this tonight. Tasted great! The veggies were a bit too soft but still tasted very, very good. Next time, I will take the foil off during the last 10 minutes of baking and then add the cheese and bake another 15 minutes uncovered.
I finally made this tonight & I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed it. I followed the recipe exactly & did need a little longer baking time but loved the final result.
Will not make again. Too much water in dish.
Everything turned to mush
Sooo good. Cheap, easy, healthy, delicious. I used two tomatoes because I had some that were overly ripe. I also used red potatoes and monteray cheddar cheese mix. I had to add about half an hour extra to the cooking time but it turned out amazing.
What wine would pair nicely with this dish?
This would go great with some grilled meat. It’s so versatile, though, that you could pair it with just about anything.
I’d probably eat this with a crisp white, like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. Or maybe a white zin.
That’s what I was thinking.
Its in the oven now! I didn’t have tomatoe so I added sweet potatoe, and buttered the dish. I’ll come back to report how it went over! I’m serving it with salmon parties and roasted garlic couscous.
This looks great! I was thinking it might be really easy to add some protein by pouring eggs into the dish and making it an egg casserole of sorts… do you think the cooking time would need adjusting at all? Thanks!
That would take some experimentation to see what happens. My only concern would be that the eggs might cook too quickly compared to the vegetables, leaving either the vegetables under cooked or the eggs over cooked.
For a college student on a budget, this is one of my favorite weekly meals to get in my veggies while still being delicious. It feeds me for at least 3 meals, and with some bread and soup on the side it is perfect. Thanks!
Took this to a “Ruthie’ s Kitchen” (a dinner for anyone who walks in the door ) at a local church. It went over very well. I didn’ t care for the thyme, but the one with Italian seasoning was great. I also salted the veggies to keep it from being too soupy when it cooked, I also used Roma tomatoes, they are meatier.
Thanks f or the great recipes!