Summertime Tian Recipe

A Provençal-inspired, and so delicious, vegetable medley

Hello! Hello!

There isn’t a time when I make a tian – and I make tians a lot during the summer – when I don’t feel as though I’ve been transported to a farmhouse in Provence, where I’m making lunch for many friends, all of whom will sit together at a long table under the trees and stay there, happily eating, drinking and talking into the early evening. The power of a few vegetables, a bunch of herbs and a lot of olive oil, which is really all there is to a tian, is strong among those of us with a romantic streak.

The word tian (pronounced tyan) refers to both the pottery casserole that the dish is baked in and the dish itself. And as with so many traditional dishes that have been passed down through generations and across borders, there’s nothing sacred about the baking dish or the baked dish. I’ve made tians in Pyrex pie plates and rough, misshapen earthenware, and made them with tender summer vegetables and firmer vegetables like carrots, turnips and potatoes. They’ve all been right i…