John Carter: Watercress Fennel Salad with Tarragon Rosemary Vinaigrette

Year Released: 2012

Directed by: Andrew Stanton

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lyn Collins

(PG-13, 132 minutes)

If you missed this epic adventure from the writer who created Tarzan when it débuted last spring, you owe it to yourself to see it on your home screen. It's a heady mix of Gothic Noir and the space opera fun that got us all hooked on Star Wars.

Journey with John Carter (Friday Night Lights' Taylor Kitsch) from Victorian England to Civil War America, and then springboard to Mars, where you'll meet an exotic princess from the Red Planet. Add to that a cast that seems to have been recruited from a seedy intergalactic bar, and you have a video roller coaster ride for the whole family. Enjoy with some Victorian fare from Different Drummer's Appetite for Murder: A Mystery Lover's Cookbook. Our recipe for Watercress Fennel Salad with Tarragon-Rosemary Vinaigrette is on page 21.

—Kathy Borich