Any Time Caprese Salad and a Food ‘N Flix Annoucement

Do you like good food and a movie?

I’m delighted to announce that I’m this month’s host of Food ‘n Flick. What is Food ‘n Flick?

Well, it’s this wonderful and fun group of bloggers, that get together, watch movies, and then head into the kitchen to cook or bake stuff inspired by the movie.

It’s a wonderfully good time, so I truly hope you’ll join us for this month’s movie, It’s Complicated, starring Meryl Streep (love, love Meryl), Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

Now, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t already seen it and yes…

This is the movie I chose, even though I’ve seen it!

Why? So I could watch it again of course

Those of you who’ve seen it won’t be surprised to know that there are oodles of scenes of Meryl in either the most perfect home kitchen imaginable or better yet, a fabulous industrial kitchen that makes mouth watering treats and meals for a foodie clientele.

It doesn’t hurt that Meryl Streep is funny and charming in this romantic comedy of finding lust and love after your forties.
So join me this month for Food ‘n Flix! We’ll have a few laughs, a few tears and plenty of good food. Here’s how you take part.

How to participate in Food ‘n Flix:

• 1. Watch the chosen film It’s Complicated. Taking inspiration from the film, head into the kitchen and cook, bake or make something.
• 2. Post about it on your blog with a link back to THIS post and a link to Food ‘n Flix. Use of the logo is optional.
• 3. Your post must be current (created during the month of September, in this case). And of course we don’t mind if your post is linked to other events…the more the merrier!
• 4. Have fun with it!
• 5. Email your entries to me at: beyondthepeel (at) gmail (dot) com and include:
• ~Your name
  ~Your blog’s name
  ~The name of your dish and the permalink to the specific post you’re submitting
  ~Attach a photo of any size (or just give me permission to “pull” one from your post)
  ~Indicate “Food ‘n Flix Submission” in the subject line

Deadline for submission is: Monday Sept 23rd (11:59 pm Eastern)
*watch for the roundup to be posted on Sept 30th!

Now onto tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes. This is my first post inspired by the movie It’s Complicated, Jane (Meryl) is outside picking the most wonderful assortment of heirloom tomatoes.

What could be more delicious? Well maybe the chocolate croissants showcased in the movie, but we can’t live on chocolate croissants alone, no matter what my husband says.

Growing up we had a big garden. I mean it was huge. At least for city folks.

That garden took a lot of our time and energy.

But it was worth it.

The benefits are huge. Aside from the obvious – all the good food – there are other benefits as well.

There’s a good work ethic that is instilled in someone that knows they have to spend hours in the garden every weekend, nurturing and caring for the plants, all in the hopes that it will provide you with a bounty not yet seen. Like nurturing plants, gardens nurture a good work ethic. There’s also a special appreciation for repetitive tasks. A garden can teach you to achieve peace and relaxation in monotonous activities such as picking, weeding or shelling peas. To this day I still enjoy a few solid hours of weeding.

But the highlight of the whole summer is when it’s time to bring in the tomatoes. There’s nothing quite as sweet as home grown tomatoes, still warm from the morning sun. Growing up, when tomato season was in full throws, tomatoes on toast became a regular breakfast, as was tomatoes on toast for lunch.

Now, at the end of August every year, I start having weird cravings for tomatoes. I actually had this caprese salad for breakfast the other day. Today I ran to the Farmer’s Market, first thing, to get the best of the heirloom tomatoes, so we could enjoy it for lunch.

We’ll also be having this for dinner and without a doubt, I’m sure to be having tomatoes on toast for breaky tomorrow.

I know there’s nothing difficult or crazy special about a Caprese salad…until you taste it, and then you’re in heaven.

The tomatoes are so sweet it’s almost dessert, and it’s only breakfast. Or in our case, it could be lunch or dinner too, but who cares. This is an anytime salad in my books.

There’s really no recipe. Use as many tomatoes as you need. Since the tomatoes we’re using are all different sizes. It hard to know how much YOU’LL need. Of course you’ll use less if it’s an appetizer, more if it’s a dinner or breakfast 2 or 3 basil leaves per person should do the trick, as does one small bocconcini ball (50g). The rest is a free for all.

Caprese Salad

• Tomatoes
  Bocconcini or Buffalo Mozzarella
  Basil
  Olive oil
  Balsamic reduction (optional)
  Salt and pepper

Slice the tomatoes and place on a plate. Add slices of bocconcini or fresh mozzarella in between the tomatoes. Finely slice the basil leaves and scatter them amongst the tomatoes and cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic reduction. Add salt and pepper to serve.

 

I’m sharing this with Mangia Monday, Monday Mania, My Meatless Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, Tasty Alternative, What’s Cooking Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Cast Party Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Freaky Friday, and Foodie Friday.