Vegetable Tian

Delicious? Yes. Beautiful? Yes. Healthy? Yes. Time consuming? Double Yes.

This recipe comes from my dear friend Elyse.  She loves this stuff. Tian is a french way of preparing vegetables. It consistes of baking layered vegetables in a casserole. The vegetables are arranged in a circle and topped with cheese and bread crumbs and baked until brown and crispy.
It is very important to buy vegetables that are all the about the same size. I did not. This resulted in much frustration because I could not get it to look as pretty as I would have liked. Normally I do not care so much about appearances, but the whole point of the tian style is to create an impressive looking dish. Oh the French and their sophistication.

Ingredients:
- Roma tomatoes
- Green Zuchinni
- Baby potatoes
- Thin eggplant (look for Japanese eggplant)
- Gruyere
- Onions
- Garlic
- Thyme

Slice all the vegetables in 1/4" thick rounds. Mince up the garlic and removed the leafs of the thyme. Saute the thyme and garlic with onions in evoo until onions are translucent. Oil the casserole dish with a little evoo. Layer vegetables in a circular manner. After the bottom of the casserole is covered,  spread out the onion mixture.  Add another layer of vegetables. Add some salt and pepper. Bake in 350˚ overn for 30 minutes. Grate the cheese and after 30 minutes are up remove the tian and sprinkle the cheese over it. Add bread crumbs if you would like. Return to oven for 15-20 minutes until top is golden brown.