Last Updated on August 30, 2023 by Deliciously Organic
A vegetable tian is a nutritious side dish loaded with vegetables and lots of flavor!
Traditionally tian is a layered dish that features thin vegetable slices atop a tomato sauce base. Overtime, other vegetables have been added, and some recipes also include various meats.
Most recipes use olive oil, but I prefer to only use olive oil for very low temperature cooking or drizzling because of it’s low smoking point. The ghee adds a nice buttery flavor and pairs well with the cheese.
While foil is helpful and sometimes needed in a recipe, I don’t like the foil to touch the food because of the potential for aluminum to get into the food. To remedy this, I use a piece of parchment followed by a piece of foil.
This vegetable tian pairs really well with Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf, Lemon-Thyme Chicken Thighs, or Turkey Roulade.
PrintVegetable Tian
Adapted from Barefoot in Paris
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 large zucchini, sliced into thin coins
- 6-7 small yukon or yellow potatoes, sliced into thin coins
- 4-5 Roma tomatoes, sliced into thin coins
- 1 tablespoon ghee, melted
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- Celtic sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup grated gouda or Pecorino Romano cheese (omit for dairy free)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and adjust rack to middle position. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and cook for about 10 minutes until soft and just beginning to caramelize. Add garlic and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Spread onion mixture in the bottom of an 10-inch diameter baking dish (I used this dish).
- Layer tomatoes, potatoes and zucchini in alternating layers (as shown in photo above). Drizzle with olive oil and season with thyme, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese. Place a piece of parchment paper over dish followed by a piece of foil (I do this because I prefer that the aluminum doesn’t touch the food). Wrap the foil tightly around the dish. Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and parchment and bake for an additional 25 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly. Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 4
I have a ton of tomatoes and zucchini from the garden this veg tian just got added to the menu : )
It is fun to take a look at someone else’s grocery cart every once in a while. We just shopped at Trader Joe’s yesterday and had quite a few of the same items, including the dark chocolate. We are not grain free, but we still do a LOT of fruits and veggies and I really appreciate your recipes when I am looking for something new but still simple. Thanks for all your work!
Thank you for your kind words! If we ever move to a place without a TJ’s I’ll have to buy a case of their organic chocolate before moving. Those bars are amazing!
looks deeeeelicious, deff gunna try this recipe, zucchini are one of my fave veggies.
This is beautiful! I do one with tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash (rather than potatoes.) Since I’m doing The Whole 30, I top it with nut flour and herbs. Simply delicious as a summer side.
I like your idea of nut flour and herbs. I’ll have to try that next time!
Love peeking into your cart!! I’ve taken pictures of food I purchase for my blog, but sadly it hasn’t made it there yet. 😉
You should post them. I’d love to see what’s in your cart!
I am honored you took my advice to heart and thrilled to see the pics! 🙂
You always have such great advice and ideas. 🙂
I love this post! So fun to see what you buy at Trader Joe’s. Would love to see what you end up doing with the chicken this week!
Thanks Annie! I have to admit, I’m a bit predictable when it comes to whole chicken. I roast it. Every. Single. Time. 🙂 It’s my “I don’t have time to cook meal” Butterfly it, season it, throw it in the oven with some cut up veg, and 45 minutes later we have dinner! I use the leftover meat for lunch, and then use the carcass to make chicken stock.
Normally when I roast veggies I opt for a high temp, usually 420. At what temp do you roast this butterflied chicken w/ veggies? And, do the veggies get greasy from the released fats of the chicken? Or perhaps you are roasting in 2 separate pans? I love the simplicity of this meal. Would just greatly appreciate a teeny bit more clarification. Thanks much!
I roast at 425F for about 40 – 45 minutes with the vegetables in the pan (until the chicken is cooked through). The vegetables soak up the wonderful chicken juices (they also get a bit of the chicken fat on them, but we like the flavor of it), but if you prefer to keep the flavors separate you can roast them in a separate pan. I usually brush the chicken with melted ghee, toss the veg in ghee and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (https://deliciouslyorganic.net/how-to-make-ghee-clarified-butter/). If you’d like to see everything in complete detail, my recipe for butterflied roasted chicken with red onions is in my cookbook on page 122.
Your Instagram photo of the tian the other day totally inspired me to make a potato one last night. We loved it! There is something to be said for a beautiful presentation. ; ) Also – so fun to inside your cart… which looks so much like ours!
How fun to see what a shopping trip looks like for you! I actually buy A LOT of those same things from Trader Joe’s! I’ve never seen that goat’s milk brie, I’ll have to look for that next time.
Looks delicious! I love Trader Joes for anything I can’t get at the market. 🙂
Looks wonderful! Thanks!! Some of us are off cheese, but I will sub in nutritional yeast or a DIY dairy free cheese. 🙂
Wow, I’m so encouraged right now! I’m pretty new to the real food/organic journey, but most of the items in your cart are the same things I get at Trader Joe’s! So maybe I’m on the right track. 🙂
That recipe looks fantastic! It reminds me of the movie Ratatouille. 🙂 I can’t wait to try it!
I’m so glad this was an encouragement to you!
Wow, your shopping cart looks almost exactly like mine, Ha! Grain free and feeling so much better. I haven’t tried that specific TJ’s chocolate, will have to pick that up today. As usual the photos look fabulous and the Veg Tian, is on my list for dinner tonight. Maybe I will use an eggplant to get the red, white and blue (almost) theme I’m looking for in honor of the Olympics. Thanks!
Karen, maybe try purple potatoes if you can get them. Either way, I’m sure it will be delicious! Go Team USA! Thanks, Carrie, for the great recipe – I’m going to try it with my not so vegetable crazy boyfriend.
That is gorgeous and is definitely calling my name! We’ve got zucchini and our tomatoes in our garden are just starting to ripen. Yippee!!
Your grocery shopping trip looks a lot like one of my trips! This recipe looks terrific! Just recently found your site and am enjoying it bunches!! Blessings, Kelly
I have been enjoying your grain free recipes, since we went grain free in March. My husband is recovering from severe pancreatitis, as well as having type II diabetes and high blood pressure. I am a breast cancer survivor that is opting to use dietary changes instead of hormone therapy for a healthy future. The grain free diet has greatly improved our health! I will try this using daikon radish in place of the potatoes, since potatoes make his sugar spike horribly (asleep from the sugar crash within 1/2 hour!). Thank you so much for all that you share with us.
Not only is this healthy and tasty, but such a beautiful dish! Thanks for sharing!
OMGoodness… SO pretty, and I love the touch of the onion layer on the bottom. I’ve made similar dishes, but with a little bit of panko breadcrumb on the top for crunch. I’m SUCH a carb fanatic! What do you eat when you’re craving crackers or something similar? Raw veggies just wouldn’t cut it for me. I think it’s the crunchy salty combo or something.
I bet panko breadcrumbs would be delicious! The most unbelievable thing about being grain free is I don’t have cravings anymore. I used to love sweets and now I rarely want them. I had heard that would happen but I had to experience it to believe it. I do like something crunchy every once in a while and lately I’ve been making these crackers and eating them with cheese and dips. https://deliciouslyorganic.net/paleo-grain-free-gluten-free-crackers/
Thanks for posting your grocery items! I’m always intrigued by what others buy at the store 🙂
What a neat idea – what is in your shopping cart really tells the story of your diet! Makes you think twice!
I see A LOT of items we buy on a weekly basis as well!! LOVE TRADER JOES! I’ll be making this tonight, thank you very much!
Your shopping looks amazing, this should be my shopping trolley. Here in China its all but basic in terms of organic. There are only a few options and everything must be collected, you can’t really shop at one place and get it all. We operate an organic farm, so there is plenty of veg supply but all the other thinsg we must collect from a variety of shops. The Tian looks great, will be doing it with dairy free cheese from my home factory 🙂 all the best from China.
Linda Kearns
This is a silly question, but did you slice the veggies by hand? We are working to increase our vegetables, but I’ve got little ones running about and am looking for a quick way. Maybe a mandolin?
I did, but a mandolin would work well. Since a mandolin cuts the vegetables so thin, I would decrease the baking time a little so you don’t burn the vegetables.
Haha! I didn’t know this had an actually name! My dad made this for us growing up. I called it “veggie-money” because the veggies are cut like coins.
I just made this last night after seeing the recipe on Facebook. We live about an hour from Trader Joes & Earth Fare, but remembered our local grocery had organic zucchini & potatoes. I boiled my potatoes whole for a short while before slicing to shorten baking time as we like our zucchini to have a little crunch in them. I didn’t have either cheese suggested, but had some organic mozzarella. We thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing! >
That looks almost exactly like our groceries after we shop 😉 That yogurt is our favorite!
Hi,
I tried this recipe but the veggies and cheese ended up sticking to the glass baking dish that I used. It tasted delicious! Just that I had to scrape out everything 🙁 Should I grease it with butter next time? Also is there only a single layer of veggies in your baking dish – or several layers? I can’t tell from the picture.
Thanks!
Poornima
Sorry to hear! Yes, I would butter the dish next time. There is a single layer of veggies in my baking dish that are laying on top of the onions, but if you have extra vegetables you can make more layers.
Great. Thanks so much. An additional question is, if there are several layers will the veggies still get cooked evenly? Or should I mix them up halfway?
Made this tonight and my whole family LOVED it!!!! Even my hubby who doesn’t like squash and my 8, 6, and 2 year old had 2nd and 3rd helpings.
Oh my gosh! I just made this with parmesan cheese and it was so good! My husband who normally doesn’t like squash or onion loved it too! I just found your website through pinterest and I am enjoying looking at all of your great recipe ideas!
My family has recently begun to make the switch to unprocessed and organic foods. We’re not completely converted over, as it is a big change, but we are well on our way to better living. I tried this recipe last night, and it was a huge hit. As a rule, I’ve never been a huge fan of zucchini, but I loved this dish! My 5 year old daughter ate all her vegetables (my 2 year old son boycotted the entire meal). My mother came over today and had (about one bite of) the leftovers and she’s hooked as well! Luckily, I have enough veggies to make another batch! So delicious!
Hi my son has had IBS since this past October. Could you recommend some good recipes?
Grain-free, nutrient-dense foods are a great place to start. I would check out my grain-free and GAPs recipes as they are nutrient-dense and good for starting to heal the gut. https://deliciouslyorganic.net/category/index-categories/gaps-index-categories/ ; https://deliciouslyorganic.net/category/index-categories/grain-free-2/
IBS is usually caused by inflammation in the gut. Here’s a great post my nutritionist wrote about inflammation (and make sure and click on the link to read about the GAPs diet – some great info there!):https://deliciouslyorganic.net/inflammation-how-to-reduce-it-naturally/
Another really nice dish! Just a few things — the recipe calls for 4 large zucchini. Perhaps the zucchini in Canada, where I live, are larger than the zucchini in Florida, but all I needed were 2. I used small yellow fleshed potatoes and needed about 7 of those and 5 roma tomatoes. I used a mandoline to slice everything so the slices would be nice and uniform and thin. I have a couple of deep glass dishes that are 10 in diameter. I sprayed one with coconut oil and had no problem with sticking. I packed everything in tight and it turned out beautifully! My adult son who is not a fan of vegetables, actually told me he liked it a lot and I could make that again:-) It certainly is a dish I will add to my go to recipes! But I’m still wondering about the 4 zucchini….
Next thing I will try is the brussel sprouts with cheese! Your stuff is sooo good, Carrie!