CSA Week 11: July 26, Grilled Cantaloupe

Halfway through Food Media Forum and I have already learned so much that I can’t wait to put into practice. I feel as though I get lazy with my writing and say everything I eat is “delicious” or “yummy” (two big food writing no-no’s…more to come on that!). Writing exercises work the thesaurus in my brain and help keep this blog fresh, and I plan to implement those exercises on a weekly basis. I can’t wait to learn more tomorrow! I will do a full FMF recap after the conference is over.

With all the preparation for FMF, Matt graciously said “yes, honey” when I asked him to pick up last Thursday’s CSA share. Two beautiful watermelon sang from the bottom of this week’s box, just waiting for a few dashes of sea salt. Those dark green stripes look like the best watermelon-flavored candy that you save for last in order to savor the flavor.

A vegetable of the same color yet completely opposite texture was laying next to the watermelon:

Edamame! The smooth rind of the watermelon deeply contrasted the fuzzy pod of these soybeans. Amy said:

We thought we had lost this crop because it was never irrigated, but at the base of the plant, the pods filled out and are delicious. We give you the stalk; just strip the pods off and throw them in boiling water for 5-10 minutes or until soft.  Then take the beans out and sprinkle a little salt.

I will likely do just that, surely finishing them in one sitting! The rest of our box looked like this:

• tomatoes (including 1 heirloom!)
• cherry tomatoes
• red onions
• garlic
• lettuce
• hot peppers
• eggplant
• beets
• basil
• zucchini

We didn’t get cantaloupe this week but had one left from last. We’ve eaten chunk after chunk this last week and a half, and wanted to do something a little different with our last one.

We grilled it! The high heat of the grill brought out the natural sugars in this fruit and elevated this unassuming fruit to a whole different level. This will also work for watermelon, so turn on the grill tonight!

Grill over high heat for 2-3 minutes per side.

I gave these slices the same treatment I gave my peaches last summer – sprinkles of goat cheese and a drizzle of honey. The tang bounces off the sugar like a pinball on your tongue, with a coating of honey to bring it all together.

If you choose to grill watermelon instead of (or in addition to!) cantaloupe, you certainly won’t need goat cheese or honey. The flavor enhanced by the heat and grill is enough to send you over the moon with, again, just a little sea salt.

Question: Do you prefer cantaloupe or watermelon? Have you grilled either? What is your favorite way to eat watermelon?

Happy Sunday!