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.

Comments

  1. My mom salts her watermelon. I live for salty/sweet stuff, but even that crosses a line for me!

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    1. Julie - good to know I'm not crazy! Hope your boys are liking the CSA!

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  2. You're not crazy. When I was growing up, we'd use a mix of salt and ground cayenne on fruit that were bland or too tart. Definitely a challenge to the palate.

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    Replies
    1. My favorite Indian place in KC does fresh mango with an amazing blend of spices that is so very good! They won't tell us what they use and I haven't been able to replicate it. I like the fruit/spice combo if done right.

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    2. Paige, there is also a Mexican place on SW Blvd that has fresh mango, watermelon, cantaloupe (oops again, musk melon, LOL), pineapple, and jicima with salt, lime, and chili powder on it. I get mine w/o the chili powder b/c I'm a wimp with spices, but my colleague gets hers all dressed up! It makes a really nice fresh yummy snack in the afternoon!) call me at work and I'll find out the name of the place for you :)

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    3. Sounds great, would love to try it. Thanks Stacy!

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  3. I remember them doing that, and always put fruit on top of their cottage cheese. I did not quite pick up either one of those.

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    Replies
    1. Glad you remember, too! And I think they even called them musk melons (I thought they were saying 'mush' melon, which seemed to fit).

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  4. spaghetti sauce in the patty pan, that's what I didn't do! live and learn, huh? and yes, I grew up putting salt on both cantaloupes (oops, musk melons) and watermelon...
    another great post Paige. I gotta catch up with you. I had to do a total rebuild on http://stacybraiuca.com AND lost a cool post on cleaning closets in the process, LOL

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  5. my grandparents always salted both musk mellon and watermellon I thought it was odd until I tasted it - have to admit it's pretty good and about the only thin I add salt to is fresh salsa/pico de gallo

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