Little Localvores: eggplant and musk melon, yes please.

Welcome to Little Localvores - a weekly series on our family's first experience with a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Every Tuesday all summer long we will receive a supply of fresh produce and local foods through the Good Natured Family Farms CSA. I'll chronicle my attempts to get my toddlers (3 years and 15 months) to eat fresh and local, healthy foods.

Localvore: someone who prefers to eat locally grown/produced food.

Green peppers, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, candy red onions, two sisters lettuce and the largest eggplant you've ever seen were all in the CSA bag for the past week.

Trying out the Million Dollar Pickles. Charlie prefers the sweet/sour pickles, but Izzy liked these sweet pickles.

The Athena melon was ready to eat and full of flavor. It looks like cantaloupe but is actually a  musk melon. Did you know cantaloupes are grown in Europe and are not commercially available in the US? I had no idea. The musk melon is in the squash family - a vegetable. I remember my grandparents used to sprinkle a little salt on their cantaloupe musk melon - maybe they knew it was actually a vegetable. (Has anyone else ever heard of salt on a melon? Sometimes I think I made up that memory).

Iz loves melons of any kind.

Not everyone loves eggplant, but I'm pretty sure everyone would love this eggplant. Wow, was it good. We sliced it thick and roasted it on the grill, drizzled it with a little balsamic vinegar, rosemary, salt & pepper. We had the leftover eggplant in a wrap for lunch together with spicy humus, a crumbled veggie burger, and a little feta cheese.

The red cabbage was actually in the previous week's CSA supply, but it kept a week in the fridge. I have been trying for a long time to replicate the roasted cabbage served on the veggie platter at Houston's on the Plaza (they have a great seasonal veggie plate that we've been known to get for take out on occasion). I've attempted this roasted cabbage many times and it never turned out quite right, but I think I finally nailed it. It's a simple recipe - just sliced cabbage tossed with olive oil, roasted at 450 for 20-25 minutes or till starting to crisp - topped off with salt, pepper, and a little feta cheese. I think it must be the GNFF cabbage that made the difference.

The grilled eggplant and cabbage were paired with Ryan's killer BLT (made with GNFF Two Sisters living lettuce and GNFF heirloom tomatoes, naturally). Is there anything better than a BLT with amazingly good, in season tomatoes?

This last recipe was a bit of an experiment. Baking an egg inside the pattypan squash with a little tomato sauce and cheese. Mine weren't exactly Pinterest worthy, but they still tasted good. You can find the recipe here.

I'm always looking for recipes that are kid-friendly, though not necessarily just for kids. Something healthy and tasty, that will also grab their attention and make them look twice. The recipe for eggs baked in squash fit that bill and both kids liked it. (Izzy always leaves a good portion of her dinner behind in her hair).

It was also a hit with Roxie...

I don't know how people clean up after toddlers without a dog. Roxie leaves our floor spotless.

Check out previous Little Localvores posts here, and here.