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
We are about to eat this tonight…..my son and his friend help with cutting and eating the extra veggies! So excited to see what it tastes like.
I made this last night with sweet potatoes and without tomato. OMG! SO amazing! Everything was gobbled up immediately.
Wondering what the calorie count per serving might be for this fabulous dish. Scrolled through the comments to see if anyone else asked, but didn’t see it.
I’m not sure – I haven’t calculated it. There are quite a few sites on the web that allow you to enter recipe ingredients and it will give you a calorie breakdown, though. Do a google search for “recipe calorie calculator” so you can see your options and decide which one you feel is most trust worthy.
Made this last night and absolutely loved it. I added extra garlic and sprinkled some basil on top, too. Also, I used a combination of shredded mozzerella and cheddar. DH and I both thought it was delicious and will enjoy it again throughout the summer with our garden harvest! Thanks for posting!
Seen & pinned on Pinterest, made it tonight (and while it was cooking I read the comments then started panicking – OhNo will it be soupy? Not cooked? ACK!) It turned out PERFECTLY! and is so, so delicious! Served it with turkey smoked sausage that I browned quickly right in the onion/garlic skillet – wonderful weeknight summer meal. Definitely going into permanent rotation {thumbs up}
Thanks!
This is a fine recipe. I tried this out a couple of nights ago (with a couple swaps: shallots for onion, and Mexican cheese for Italian blend). I believe my marriage has improved . :p In all seriousness, my husband appreciated the flavors of the slow-cooked vegetables. I want you to know that I’ll be having people over for dinner more often. Thank you, Beth.
I made this last night. Used 3 garlic (we like garlic), some Cajun seasoning and fresh herbs from the garden. I forgot how much water is in squash, so had to pour off the liquid. Added more cheese at that point and baked longer so it wouldn’t be so watery. I usually saute squash prior to using in casseroles to remove liquid. Perhaps I should have done that this time. Also, did use butter with olive oil to saute onion and garlic and buttered pan.
TIP FOR LEFTOVERS:
I made this the other day for dinner (it was excellent of course, thanks again Beth!) and had some left over. While I reheated the veggies in my toaster oven, I fried up an egg over medium in olive oil. Then I put it on top of the veggies (yolk down), added a little fresh cheese and some thai garlic sauce. WOW! Great for breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner!
We made this one weekend to go with hamburgers. Instead of potatoes, we used tatertot crowns, and roughly chopped all the other veggies. was a perfect match for the burgers!
Tasty stuff, though I looked at it for a good five minutes wondering how to eat it lol. For some reason though, I ended up with a lot of liquid in the bottom of the pan like a couple other people. Maybe I didn’t cook it long enough (especially since the potatoes were a little undercooked)?
However, just as is, I think it makes for a better side dish than a main dish, unless you add more things to it. :) I made a nice chicken to go with it (though ended up eating like, 1/3 of the pan anyways haha.
Love, love, LOVE this!! Have made a couple of times. . .once to take for a friend, and her 3 & 5 year olds kept asking for more! Have used Penzey’s Bouquet Garni & Sunny Paris herbs. . .potatoes take some time to cook. . .and yes, this time had a crisis with the mandolin slicer! doh!
I made this over the weekend. Unfortunately, I overcooked the veggies, so they came out a bit mushy. I added about 15 minutes to the cooking time…mainly because I was distracted while cooking something else…lol On a positive note, the flavor is good enough that they are still edible to me. I had it as a side dish to your pan lasagna recipe–yeah I know, odd combination, but it tasted great to me.
Stumbled across you on Pinterest, we had this for dinner last night and it is now on the regular meal list. I’m in Western Australia and squash isn’t too popular so I substituted with Sweet Potato (Yam) and added Pepperoni & Ham to the layers with a sprinkle of parmesan too……..a delicious complete meal! Thank you.
I made this to accompany our jalapeño oven fried chicken for dinner tonight. It came out perfectly; I did use a different cheese blend to fit what I had on hand, but given the simple nature of the recipe, I don’t believe any flavors were compromised. And to think, the man said he didn’t eat squash! Lol, his veggies were the first thing to vanish from his plate! My toddler loved it as well. I will definitely be making this again. Thank you for sharing :)
I made this recipe tonight!! It was awesome. Everything came out perfect. I used an 11×7 inch glass dish. 30 mins then 10 mins with the cheese. I used a 6 cheese Italian blend and it wasn’t watery at all. Plus, I took the seeds and the mushy stuff out of the tomatoes. This is a great recipe. I think I’m going to put it on top of pasta next time with a light cream sauce. Thanks again :)