Zucchini-Tomato-Eggplant Tian

I love eggplant. And you know what else is pretty good? Zucchini, tomatoes, and cheese. So when you mix all of those together you are bound to come up with a tasty end result. This time it's a tian, which is more or less a fancy name for piling up some veggies and putting a few bread crumbs on top to give it a slight crunch. I like to think of it as a veggie lasagna minus the noodles and going quite lightly on the cheese to save calories, yet still add a little flavor.

This came out wonderfully and I wolfed it down, but please keep in mind that without protein or even carbs, it's not particularly filling. I needed a fairly large serving to satisfy my hunger, so this dish unfortunately didn't last quite as long as I would have liked. I still strongly recommend making it, it's delicious, but just make sure you're not overly hungry or else you make plenty of extra for seconds.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 1 hr 45 min



Zucchini-Tomato-Eggplant Tian
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, sliced
3 good-sized zucchini, sliced
4-5 tomatoes (4 medium or 5 large), sliced
1/4 c breadcrumbs
1/2 c low-fat shredded mozzarella
1/4 c fresh basil, coarsely chopped
1/8 c fresh oregano, coarsely chopped
1/4 c crumbled goat cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper

Get your oven pre-heating to 375 degrees.

Slice your eggplant and zucchini into 1/4" thick slices. Spread them out evenly (do not pile on top of each other) on greased cooking sheets. Bake the vegetables for 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through if you use multiple cookie sheets. Set them aside and let the zucchini and eggplant cool for a few minutes so you can easily handle it.

Use cooking spray to grease a glass baking dish. I used a 9x9 and piled my vegetables extremely high, but chose this over a very thin vegetable pile in a 9x13. Use what you estimate to be appropriate.

Place half the eggplant in the bottom of the dish. Top it with half of the zucchini and then half of the tomato slices. Now, sprinkle half of the breadcrumbs (1/8 c) evenly over the top of the tomato layer. Sprinkle with half (1/4 c) of the mozzarella. Sprinkle half of the basil and half of the oregano on top as well.

Put the rest of the eggplant on top, then the zucchini, then the tomato. All of your vegetables should now be in the baking dish. Sprinkle on the rest of the breadcrumbs (1/8 c) and the rest of the mozzarella (1/4 c.) Put the remaining basil and oregano on top.

Sprinkle the black pepper over the top and evenly top it all with the crumbled goat cheese. Your dish is now ready to go in the oven! Bake at 375 for 1 hr. The cheese should be browned and the vegetables tender.