Farmers' Market with my Little Love and Grilled Eggplant!

Greenville, SC Sat. Morning Market

"What makes the Farmer's Market a special place is that you're actually creating  community around food." -Bryant Terry

This weekend, I went to the local farmers' market with my Little Love and father. It’s true; I LOVE everything about the market. The local produce, the meats, the coffee, the crowd, the music, local restaurant food, the plants, and so on. Not even the rain could keep us away yesterday!

 

 

 

 

Things I enjoy about taking Little Love to the Farmer’s Market:

My Father and Little Love

• Bonding time!
• She can learn more about farmers.
• Learn about nutrition and real food (Teaching her how to eat and pick healthy foods).
• Introduce her to new foods.
• Seeing us cook what we bring home.
• Teaching her the benefits of patronizing local farms.
• Getting her interested in the process of growing foods.

This weekend’s purchases were blue berries and eggplant. These eggplants were so beautiful I absolutely couldn’t resist. So tonight my husband and I made grilled eggplants with parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

• Salt
• Garlic powder
• Onion Powder
• Eggplants
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

1. In a large Tupperware dissolve 2 Tbsp. of salt in 1 cup hot water. Add about 3 quarts of cold water. Set aside.
2. Trim eggplant and cut into ¾-inch thick  slices. Put slices in salt water, weigh down with the lid and let sit 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium-high heat.
4. Drain eggplant and pat dry with paper towels. Lay them on a large baking sheet or tray. Brush one side with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, garlic and onion power. (Feel free to use other spices you may like. Many people like to add balsamic vinegar as well).  Lay oiled-side-down on the grill. Close lid if using a gas grill and cook until grill marks appear, about 5 minutes.
5. Brush top sides with oil and sprinkle with salt. Turn slices over, close lid on a gas grill and cook until grill marks appear on the other side and eggplant is very tender, about 5 minutes. Place the eggplant on top rack of the grill (if it has one) and leave on low heat for about 15 minutes to soften them. Sprinkle parmesan cheese. Serve hot or at room temperature.

 

 

We paired this meal with two types of chicken sausages my husband picked out from Trader Joes and  a grains blend. For the grains, I would definitely use chicken broth next time as this can be very bland otherwise. But overall this was another easy delicous dinner we thoroughly ENJOYED!