French Tian Casserole Recipe by Ruth Paget
I first read about southern France’s vegetable tian casseroles in Mireille Johnston’s cookbook Cuisine of the Sun. Her recipes focused on nutrition without too many calories in cuisine minceur, diet cuisine, dishes. The recipes were delicious, but not high calorie.
When I was a Navy wife in Norfolk (Virginia), I wanted to make tians that could replace cheeseburger meals and make use of the inexpensive zucchini and Italian yellow squash I could find at the supermarket. I added cooked rice to my tians and eggs along with inexpensive Swiss cheese instead of pricy Parmesan.
I also read in Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbook World Vegetarian that seeds and grains mixed together provide enough amino acids to form a complete protein. I reasoned that the seeds in zucchini and yellow squash mixed with rice grains would give my casserole an extra protein boost.
My recipe for a vegetable tian casserole follows, which can be used for many soft vegetables:
Zucchini and Italian Yellow Squash Tian Recipe:
Serves 4
Ingredients:
-2 cups cooked rice
-2 eggs
-2 medium zucchini, grated with skins left on
-2 medium Italian yellow squash, grated with skins left on
-1 cup grated Swiss cheese or Parmesan cheese
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-Non-stick baking spray for an 8-inch or 9-inch round baking dish
-3 tablespoons Italian seasoning or Herbes de Provence
Steps:
1-Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (15 minutes).
2-Mix cooked rice with eggs, grated vegetables, grated cheese, and olive oil.
3-Spray baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour rice-vegetable mixture into the baking dish.
4-Top with Italian seasoning or Herbes de Provence.
5-Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. A toothpick or cake tester inserted in the tian should come out clean to show that the tian is done.
Serve with a fruit salad.
You can also use vegetables like the following in this recipe: cooked spinach, cooked Swiss chard, mushrooms, peas, tomatoes, eggplant, or green beans.
By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
