Turkey Burgers, Spring Garlic Soup & Braised Red Radishes

We have turkey burgers more often than hamburgers. Instead of the very lean ground turkey breast, I buy the "fattier" one. I don't remember if it is 97% or 93%, but it is great grilled with nothing in it or just add some diced tomato and/or your favorite meat seasoning.

Spring or green garlic is young garlic before it starts forming cloves. Green garlic looks like a baby leek or a green onion with a long green top and small white bulb. Its flavor is much more mild than that of mature garlic.

From the Turtle Farm website:

Bistro 43 Spring Garlic Soup

1 T. extra virgin olive oil	½ C. chopped spring garlic
¼ C. chopped yellow onion	3 C. chicken stock
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, cut 1" pieces	salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy-bottomed pan, sauté garlic and onion in oil for a few minutes. Add potatoes and stock. Simmer until potatoes are tender. Purée and season to taste. Garnish with sour cream. Makes 4 servings.

(We didn't garnish with sour cream, but it would probably be good with it.) This was one of my favorite recipes so far.

When you cook radishes, they taste nothing like they do raw. I don't enjoy them very much when they're raw. Cooking them takes all the bite/peppery heat out of them, and they're much more enjoyable! This recipe is from my favorite vegetarian cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison. It has great tips on choosing vegetables and storing them, so I use it as a reference book as much as a cookbook.

Per Wikipedia, radishes are rich in ascorbic acid, folic acid, and potassium. They are a good source of vitamin B6, riboflavin, magnesium, copper, and calcium. One cup of sliced red radish bulbs provides approximately 20 Calories or less, coming largely from carbohydrates, making radishes, relative to their size, a very filling food for their caloric value.

Braised Red Radishes

20 plump radishes, red or multicolored
1 to 2 Tbsp. butter
1 shallot, diced (I didn't have one, so I didn't use one and it tasted great anyway)
1 tsp. chopped thyme or several pinches dried (we used fresh from our new herb garden!)
salt and pepper

Trim the leaves from the radishes, leaving a bit of the green stems, and scrub them. If the leaves are tender and in good condition, wash them and set aside. Leave smaller radishes whole and halve or quarter larger ones. (I ended up cutting all the stems off and didn't use the greens.)

Melt 2 to 3 teaspoons butter in small saute pan. Add the shallot and thyme and cook for 1 minute over medium heat. Add the radishes, a little salt and pepper, and water just to cover. Simmer until the radishes are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. (This took much longer for me for some reason--more like 10 minutes.) Add the leaves if using and cook until they're wilted and tender, 1 minute more. Remove the radishes to a serving dish. Boil the liquid, adding a teaspoon or two more butter if you like, until only about 1/4 cup remains. Pour it over the radishes and serve.