Vegan Summer Vegetable Tian

I've been dying to make this dish for a few weeks. I also give credit where credit is due. I mopped this recipe from this really great blog called Budget Bytes and just tweaked it slightly to make it vegan (read: used vegan cheese). I also love this dish because not only is it beautiful, but it incorporates some of my favorite summer vegetables - heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash!

Ingredients

• 1 red heirloom tomato
• 1 yellow heirloom tomato
• 1 yellow summer squash
• 1 zucchini
• 1 medium potato
• 1 medium white onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• vegan mozzarella shredded cheese
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Before everything, preheat the oven to 400° F.  In a large pan, add your diced onions and garlic with the olive oil. Cook on medium-high heat until the onions are translucent and your kitchen begins to smell amazing.

2. While the onions and garlic are sautéing away - either using a sharp knife or a mandolin, slice the remaining vegetables into the same size pieces. The tomatoes were slightly larger than the other vegetables in circumference so I ended up cutting them in half. Worked out great!

Seriously, just gorgeous!

 3. Once your onions are done, layer the bottom of a pie dish with the mixture.

4. Next, layer your vegetables vertically. I alternated tomato, zucchini, yellow squash, potato, and also interchanged the yellow and red tomato. At this point, salt and pepper to taste. I cannot lie, it was stunning just the way it was before it went into the oven. I love you.

5.  Tent your pie dish, give it a little kiss, place it gently in the oven, and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Once your timer goes off, remove the foil. Sprinkle as much cheese as desired. I think I used about 1/2 cup of the cheese. Continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes with the foil off, just enough for the cheese to melt and the potatoes to crisp up a bit.

7. After an agonizing 10-15 minutes. Remove the tian and enjoy! I just used a spatula and removed like it was lasagna. UGH SO GOOD!

Martha Stewart called, wants her damn vegetable tian back!!

 I enjoyed my tian with a delicious vegan Italian sausage. The vegetables were soft and just oozing of their fresh, natural flavors. The cheese added just a touch of the saltiness that is needed.

So I'll leave you with that, a large (vegan) wiener and two big thumbs up!

Cheers,

Kate