Butter-Roasted Radishes

Every week during the growing season, a bag of produce arrives from a local farm. Usually it's a mix of things we look forward to and things I might not have picked up on my own.

This year I wanted to challenge myself to cook with what arrived in the bag rather than simply choosing everything myself at the market. There is something exciting about opening it and letting the ingredients decide what comes next.

Radishes are one of those vegetables I don't often think to buy. But they don't need much to become something wonderful.

For these, I kept things simple: butter, fresh thyme, a few lightly smashed cloves of garlic, and a hot cast iron skillet. The radishes roast until tender and golden, their peppery bite mellowing into something sweeter and more delicate.

Sometimes cooking with an unfamiliar ingredient doesn't require a clever recipe. It just requires finding the preparation that lets it be itself.

What you need

• Fresh radishes, trimmed and halved

• Butter

• 2–3 garlic cloves, lightly smashed

• Fresh thyme

• Flaky sea salt

How to make it

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Add a generous pat of butter and allow it to melt. Add the radishes, cut side down, along with the lightly smashed garlic cloves and a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

Let the radishes cook undisturbed until deeply golden on the cut side.

Turn the radishes and continue cooking until tender, allowing the garlic and thyme to perfume the butter as everything roasts together.

Remove the skillet from the heat and finish generously with flaky sea salt.

Serve warm, straight from the skillet.

Sometimes the simplest preparations are the ones worth remembering.