In the kitchen, my motto is:

*When in doubt, saute it.*

It’s not that I’m prejudiced against frying, steaming, microwaving, roasting, or braising. Okay, I am prejudiced against steaming. But sauteing just feels the most like cooking. There’s no good reason for this–it’s not like it’s the primal form of cooking, although imagining cavepeople trying to cram hunks of mastodon carcass into 10-inch All-Clad skillets on their camp stoves is pretty funny. Probably it’s overexposure to cooking shows.

Anyway, my esteem for sauteing goes double when vegetables are involved. Most good vegetable preparations start with a little butter and a little browning. Really good ones start with a lot of butter and a lot of browning. Olive oil is good, too.

Here’s what I made tonight to go with burgers.

**Sauteed Fennel and Radicchio**

Heat some butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Add peeled and quartered shallots and a handful of sliced fennel. Season with salt, pepper, and dried thyme (an herb that I reflexively couple with fennel ever since Cousin Wendy made it that way a few years ago). I wanted red onions rather than shallots, but the red onion I brought home turned out to be moldy as hell. Cook a few minutes, until the vegetables are getting nicely browned. Add a head of sliced radicchio and another sprinkle of salt. Continue cooking until the radicchio is good and wilted. Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit and soften up for a couple of minutes before serving.