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
I love all the recipes I’ve seen so far & do rate them all a 5 STAR !! I’ll be making them soon !!
Do you have nutrition info for this dish? Thank you.
No, I’m sorry, I don’t.
You can enter entire the recipe into the app My Fitness Pal, and it will give you the nutrition info.
Instead of salt & Pepper, I used Mortons Season-all, the dish was delicious !!!!
I made this dish yesterday, chopped to onion & garlic in the cuisnart worked like a charm. I added sliced mushrooms to this, delicious.
This is delicious!!
I just made this and it was very disappointing. Maybe I didn’t use the salt and pepper as generously as I should have but I left it in the oven for longer than suggested and the potatoes were still raw. It had very little flavor too and I served it with chicken on the side that was very well seasoned.
I think that this dish is FANTASTIC! The flavors are wonderful. I could eat this several times a week!
Tried this recipe and it was wonderful! Family loved it, guests loved it. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t normally go back to recipes that I try out from online but this was absolutely amazing. Healthy and easy. It looks so fantastic and tastes even better. I couldn’t get enough!
I would love to have put the photo here of how mine turned out like. I did have to improvise. Carrot, Egg plant, (red onion, Red cabbage and garlic in the bottom) potatoes, tomatoes and zucchini. It was the best meal I have had in ages and I actually cooked it myself. (I can’t stop grinning and wish I wore my Santa pants before dinner)
This looks amazing! I could almost turn this into a casserole with some meat and some marinara sauce. Looks like a wonderful way to welcome summer, and I’m ready for it!!
Does this reheat well?
YES!
Made this for Easter dinner and it was devoured!! I appreciated all the comments. I seeded the tomatoes and I sliced, salted and let the zucchini drain for 20 min. Rinse and squeeze dry with clean towel. Used fresh thyme and Gruyere as that’s what I had. I also took the suggestion and put a thin layer of breadcrumbs in the bottom of the pan, I had no liquid. It was delicious and it went fast, I could have doubled the recipe!
I was wondering if the dish would have too much liquid. Salting the zucchini before cooking sounds like a great tip! Can’t wait to try it.
I’ll definitely salt the zucchini. Great idea.
I have eaten this dish several nights in a row. You won’t miss eating meat at all and I am a bonifide meat eater!!!
I just made for luncheon and it was fabulous. I made a few changes added half slices of red ( or yellow or orange) peppers, an onion sliced the same way in addition to the chopped onion and garlic sauté. I also made an herb mix of dried herbs ( it’s still winter) of the following: dill, thyme, basil, oregano and well as salt and pepper. I drizzled some extra olive oil over vegetables and then followed recipe as stated.We have some left over that we’ll eat tonight tucked into an omelet!
I just tried the recipe and it turned out lovely and so tasty . I did have to extend the baking time . I added another 25 minutes uncovered. The dish was just moist enough ! I used a sweet potatoe . It was so yummy , my daughter and I enjoyed it !!!