I can’t believe I managed to photograph something as late as 5pm in the evening! Usually I have to fit in my photography before 3pm, then the light starts to go but as I write this, a couple of hours later, the sun is still up. It’s lovely! I’m not usually a summer person, at ALL. I hate the heat, I get bad allergies and very fatigued. I’m a grumpy pale girl, basically. But this dish has me looking forward to summer and all the fresh, colourful dishes I’ll get to eat.

So you can probably guess from the photos, but a Tian is similar to a gratin recipe. The name comes from a large round cooking pot used in Provence, France and the dish is made up of layered roasted vegetables. The end result is comforting, delicious and surprisingly healthy (when you make it with my fat-free cheeze sauce!)

This dish is:

Vegetarian and vegan

Dairy-free and eggless

Gluten-free, grain-free and paleo-friendly

Fat-free and low calorie

Nut-free (use nut-free milk)







Yield: 4 Vegetable Tian with Cheeze Sauce (Vegan) Print This delicious, healthy dish can be served as a side dish or can be made into a whole meal! Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 50 minutes Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes Ingredients 1 tsp olive oil or low-cal spray

1 courgette

1 yellow courgette

4 to matoes

2 medium potatoes

1 yellow onion

1 tbsp finely chopped mixed herbs, I used sage, basil and rosemary

Salt & pepper For the cheeze sauce 80 ml / 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, or soy milk for nut-free alternative

1 heaped tbsp arrowroot powder

A pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup nutritional yeast Instructions Preheat oven to 200C / 390F and bring a pan of water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the potatoes and cook for 6-8 minutes. Then leave the potatoes to cool in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the vegetables (excluding the onion) using either a mandolin or a sharp knife to cut them into thin slices. Do the same with the potatoes, once they've cooled. Dice the onion and fry in the olive oil until softened. Add to the bottom of a round dish. Now start layering on the vegetables alternately in a circular pattern. Sprinkle the herbs on top and add salt and pepper to taste. Cover in tin foil and cook for 30 minutes then remove from the oven to add the cheese sauce. Prepare the cheeze sauce In a blender, mix the almond milk and arrowroot together until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and stir until thickened. Stir in the nutmeg, garlic powder, onion powder and nutritional yeast. You can simply pour the cheese sauce on top of the vegetables but you won't see the beautiful pattern! So I like to add it a tablespoon at a time, using the back of the spoon to smooth it between the vegetables so you can still see them peeking out on top. Return the dish to the oven, this time without the tin foil and cook for a further 20 minutes until the sauce has formed a crust and the vegetables are starting to crisp on top. Serve and enjoy! Nutrition Information Yield 4

Amount Per Serving Calories 116 Carbohydrates 21.2g Fiber 4.5g Sugar 6.1g Protein 6g

Is there sunshine where you are? I hope so!