One Giant Pizza Post

Since I just did a post on pizza I decided I should just continue with the theme and show the other pizzas that have been consumed as of late. My room mate and I made a pizza with eggplant, with store bought pizza crust. For some reason I don't have any pictures of it, I must have been really hungry and just forgot to take a picture of the finished product. But here's a photo of an eggplant.

Not baked

Baked

The next pizza that was made I made with my friend Billie. We put zucchini and bell peppers on top and it kind of looks like Christmas in pizza form. We sauteed the zucchini and then just threw on the raw bell peppers along with the cheese. I made the crust with a little bit of cornmeal in it which gave a nice crunch to the loaded squash pizza. And Billie has a great pizza stone which gave a nice golden color to the crust and cheese.

There have been these lovely bunches of basil arriving in the box with the flowers still attached. They kind of remind me of bouquets of flowers, maybe because I stuck this one in a vase. Basil pairs well with tomatoes and that brings me to my last pizza endeavor.

The last pizza I made was with heirloom tomatoes. My friend Anna has the most amazing garden in her backyard, I would go so far as calling it a tiny organic urban farm. She generously gave me a large amount of gorgeous heirlooms. I made pizza crust and sprinkled it with a layer of cheese and then baked it for about 15 minutes, give or take.  I then sliced up tomatoes and layered them sprinkling salt, pepper, olive oil, and pureed basil on top. I didn't want to bake the tomatoes because they are so amazing in their pure form. This was definitely eaten with a knife and fork because the tomatoes kept falling off but, it was a nice reminder of a summer gone quickly by.


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A Little Roasted Tomatoes And Zucchini For Breakfast

With the remaining cherry tomatoes, I woke up this morning thinking about roasting them. I love roasted tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are perfect because they don't take to long to roast and the roasting adds another depth of flavor to their perfect sweetness. I cut them in half and quarters and put them in a 400 degree oven, on a foil lined pan,  somewhere between 15-20 minutes until they get nice and soft and a little brown on top. While the tomatoes roasted I sauteed the two zucchini in a little olive oil and one slivered garlic clove until they had a nice tan color. Setting the veggies aside, I scrambled the eggs and then added the zucchini and tomatoes to the eggs when they were just about done. An easy filling breakfast.

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E.T. Phones Home For A Beach Potluck

Summer allows for lots of outside entertainment and a good part of the time it is free. In Long Beach we have Movies on the Beach, showing a free movie at a different part of the beach Monday through Thursday. It's a great way to get together and watch a cult classic like Pee Wee's Big Adventure with a bunch of people on a big screen. The last week of August they're playing Jaws all week, which is an appropriate way to end summer.

Last night we saw E.T which I probably have not seen in at least 15 years. It's such a great film to enjoy on a large screen and to be able to see it with a bunch of friends. All while enjoying a shared hodgepodge of food. In planning of what to bring I knew I wanted to make a dent in the cucumbers because I had so many, and use some of the  purple basil because it does not last long.

I found an caprese inspired salad that uses tomato, nectarine, and basil  but because it had to be something that traveled well I decided to just to throw everything together in a bowl. This could not be easier and the nectarines were so perfectly sweet that they complemented the tomatoes and basil.  The purple basil gave a dark contrast to the red, yellow, and white. This turned out really well and now I'm curious as to what other items I can add to a caprese salad.

I also made an elderflower cucumber drink that is really refreshing and not to sweet. I found elderflower syrup at Ikea yesterday, I had to return something, and thought it would be good mixed with the cucumber. Using 6 parts mineral water to one part syrup plus one cucumber.  I now might just start adding cucumbers to everything I drink. This is a great crisp drink that would cool any summer night especially in the company of friends and good movies.






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Tomato Toast

One of my favorite breakfasts using tomatoes is what I'm going to call Tomato Toast. It's easy, healthy, and delicious. 
 All you need is bread, your slices of tomato, labneh, a little basil, salt and pepper, and olive oil.
Lebneh is yogurt that has been strained, it has a really thick consistency and is in between yogurt and cheese. It is available at middle eastern or specialty markets. If you can't find it Greek yogurt works as well.
I prefer English muffins but any bread that tastes good toasted works.
Just toast your bread, spread the lebneh, and place as many tomato slices as you like. Add your basil, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy throughout the day, as a summer snack or start your day with  a simple light breakfast.

Tomato Plant

In the last produce box along with vegetables, there was also a little tomato plant. I am excited and determined to not let it end up like other brown shriveled plants.

I am going to try and show the progress of the little tomato plant and hopefully will be able to enjoy its fruit later.