(Don’t forget, it’s National Farmers Market Week and the Foodie Tots <3 Farmers Markets photo contest is now open!)

For a good portion of my life, I hated cantaloupe. I would eat honeydew and watermelon without a second thought, but carefully, obsessively, pick out any orange-fleshed melon pieces from fruit salads. When the Foodie Tot was born, the husband and I agreed to introduce him to foods we hated without prejudice and let him form his own opinions. (That meant bananas and canteloupe for me, and many green vegetables for the husband.) I’ve learned to cope with bananas ripening on the counter, despite my continued abhorrence of the sight and smell of brown spots, but was surprised to discover last summer that sweet, locally-grown cantaloupe is actually enjoyable. People often assume that melon is less nutritious because of its high water contents, but in fact cantaloupe is loaded with beta-carotene and vitamins A and C, potassium, folate and fiber, making it a nutrition power house. It’s peak melon season now locally, and most produce stands at local farmers markets offer an array of melons in shades of orange, yellow, green and red. Pick one that is still firm to the touch but smell the stem end to test for ripeness — the sweeter the better.

Of course my Italian heritage demands that I serve melon draped in prosciutto, and the Southern Maryland/Virginia melons found at our local farmers markets are perfectly suited for the task. Inspired by that classic sweet-salty pairing, I decided to try my hand at a cantaloupe soup. We ventured out in the rain to the West End Alexandria market Sunday — because Foodie Tots are not fair weather market fans — and the dark, gloomy day put me in the mood for soup. This simple soup could be served warm or chilled. It’s topped with crispy prosciutto-style ham and fried basil leaves. I can’t call this toddler-approved as the foodie tot spit it out in a fussy refusing to eat rebellion, but if your kid is in a less finicky mood I suspect they might at least be slightly intrigued by this sweet, orange soup.

Recipe: Cantaloupe Soup with Ham and Basil

Ingredients:

• 1 good sized cantaloupe (4 cups, cubed)
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1 medium sweet onion
• 1 cup chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 slices prosciutto-style ham
• several small basil leaves

Instructions: Heat oil over medium heat in stock pot. Cook onions until soft and translucent (but not browned). Add melon and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes, until melon falls apart when prodded with a spoon. Season with just a tiny pinch of salt and pepper. Remove from heat and cool before blending in blender in small batches, or in pot with a stick blender. Serve warm or chill for several hours to serve cold.

Before serving, thinly slice and chop ham into small pieces. Fry over medium high heat until browned and crispy. Remove from heat and pat with paper towel to remove excess oil. Cook basil leaves in the ham’s drippings until translucent and crisp (do not stir), remove carefully. Sprinkle ham bits and basil leaves in center of soup before serving. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!

This, along with a Cibola Farms buffalo steak and sauteed Swiss chard from our CSA, is our featured One Local Summer meal of the week. Our squash blossom succotash crepes earlier in the week were also all-local. We’re now celebrating National Farmers Market Week with a market menu every night — stay tuned for the highlights. And be sure to grab your camera when you head to the market this week to enter the Foodie Tots <3 Farmers Market photo contest! Just upload a picture to the Flickr pool by Sunday, August 9.

All right folks, National Farmers Market Week begins this Sunday, August 2. Here’s your chance to support your local farmers and vendors and get more than just yummy, fresh food in return.

Submit a photo of your tot(s) at the market to the Foodie Tots <3 Farmers Markets Flickr pool during the week (August 2-9) and you’ll have a chance to win a kid-sized reusable market tote filled with foodie goodies. For an extra entry into the drawing, blog about your local farmers market with a link back to this post &/or retweet a link to the “Foodie Tots <3 Farmers Markets” Flickr pool.

Remember it’s hot out there, so head out early and pack your reusable water bottles! (Need more encouragement on why you should explore your local farmers markets with your kids? Read my article on “Healthy Habits Take Root at the Market.”)

(Sharing this at Fight Back Fridays hosted by the Food Renegade; check out this week’s round-up for more resources to find fresh, real food for your family.)

The fourth Alexandria, Va., farmers market – and only mid-week option – opened for the season this week. The Upper King Street Fresh Farmers Market is held on Wednesdays from 3 to 7 pm, located just across from the King Street Metro station (blue/yellow lines) in a little park. If you’re coming from the Metro, look for the giant green wall which shelters the park.

There were a full complement of new vendors this year, with Bigg Riggs farm (greens & jarred products) and the rainbow umbrellas of Maribeth’s Bakery the only familiar faces from last year’s inaugural season. Del Ray Market shoppers will recognize Tom the Cheese Guy (cave-aged cheddar, cheeses, eggs, yogurt and Amish baked goods), Shlagel Farms (spotted at Shlagel, the season’s first cherries!) and Vera’s Bakery (scones and more). Cibola Farms fills the sorely-needed meat vendor slot with high-quality Virginia grass-fed buffalo, pork and more. (I believe this is Cibola’s first foray into Alexandria, they also sell at Penn Quarter, Dupont Circle, Arlington and others.) Breadline appears with artisanal baguettes and baked goods, and Long Hollow Ecological Farm from the Shenandoah Valley is another new produce vendor. I only recently discovered Long Hollow at the Oakton market, and their strawberries are the most flavorful I’ve found on this coast. (And I had market-fresh California strawberries on Sunday, so that’s saying something.)

This market is great for restocking the fridge mid-week, especially if you, say, fly back into town on a Wednesday morning and have nothing on hand. With the addition of Tom and Cibola, it now passes the complete-meal test as well. And most importantly, it’s just a short walk beyond our neigborhood playground.

I was thrilled to hear of a new market opening this year in Crystal City — conveniently located on my way home from the office — that takes place on Tuesdays from 3pm – 7pm. Smartly located on the stretch of Crystal Drive closest to the Metro station, the Crystal Farms Market is geared towards office dwellers on their way home and residents returning home from the District. The bright flowers and first May strawberries are a welcome burst of color amidst the concrete high rises.

Some familiar favorites — Bigg Riggs of WV, Cherry Glen goat cheeses (MD), Westmoreland Berry Farms (VA), Atwater’s Bakery and Toigo Orchards (PA). New-to-me were Mount Vernon lamb and several other bakeries, including Alexandria’s Great Harvest Bread Co. The dueling charcuterie hawkers advertised as participating (Red Apron and Meatcrafters) were nowhere to be found, but this market had a great selection of vendors for opening day and is sure to be a popular draw as the season progresses.

We picked up some lovely shitake mushrooms from Bigg Riggs which went into a fast scramble with eggs and an aged goat cheese (local but not from the market). Yum!

Alexandria Farmers Market Watch: The weather was gorgeous in Alexandria this weekend, but my farmers market visits were brief due to visiting in-laws and a packed toddler-centric schedule of activities. (Three years in, I’m realizing that Mother’s Day is really not so much about me…)  At the Del Ray Farmers Market, Three Way Farms had strawberries galore as promised, though they were rapidly selling out. At the West End Farmers Market, Westmoreland Berry Farm was out of strawberries well before noon, though they were still selling strawberry shortcake for Mother’s Day. Most of the fresh stuff (strawberries, asparagus, Papa’s Orchard’s apples) did sell out early thanks to the great weather bringing hungry shoppers out in droves. Two familiar vendors, J & W Valley View Farm (VA, strawberries and greens) and Fresh Joseph’s (fresh-squeezed orange juice, scones & mozzarella — odd combination, isn’t it?) returned to West End this week. I snagged my Mother’s Day gift to myself — soft shell crabs from the On the Gourmet truck. (Check out the great write-up of the On the Gourmet crew in May’s Northern Virginia magazine.)

If there was rhubarb at the Alexandria markets, it sold out before I got there, so the ingredients for this market fresh dinner came from the Oakton market last week. Rhubarb season is just beginning though, so there will be plenty more rhubarb inspiration to come. (And rhubarb collins! Stay tuned.) The toddler loved the rhubarb sauce (it does have a slight resemblance to ketchup, after all) and dipped both his pork and asparagus in it. I love the tart, fresh taste of rhubarb with just about anything — I imagine this sauce would also go well with chicken or even fish.

Recipe: Roast Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

Pork:

• 1 3-pound pork tenderloin*
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano

Sauce:

• 1.5 cups rhubarb*, sliced
• 1 spring onion*, white bulb portion (reserve green stalks for garnish/salad), finely chopped
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• 1/8 cup white balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey*
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions: Mix together pork seasonings and rub into pork tenderloin, coating evenly. Cover and place in refrigerator while preparing rhubarb sauce. (Bring out 10-15 minutes prior to cooking to bring to room temperature.)

Combine all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and cook until rhubarb is falling apart, about 20 minutes. Cool and blend with stickblender or food processor until smooth.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Sear pork for 3 minutes on each side, until browned. Brush with a generous amount of rhubarb sauce and transfer to over. Cook 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Allow to stand 10 minutes before slicing. Slice and serve with additional barbecue sauce. Makes 4-6 servings. Enjoy!

* Farms of origin:

• Valentine’s Country Meat, Va. (pork)
  
• Westmoreland Berry Farm, Va. (spring onion)
  
• Kuhn Orchards, Pa. (rhubarb)

What’d you find at the markets this weekend? Cook for mom? (Or yourself?)