Garlic-Mushroom Turkey Slices

I've been thinking about Thanksgiving. Not the holiday itself ╬ôçö the holiday is fine, turkey and gratitude and football I don't watch ╬ôçö but the word. Thanksgiving. Thanks-giving. The giving of thanks. For adoptees, gratitude is complicated machinery. You're supposed to be thankful you were chosen, thankful you were saved, thankful for the life you were given, as though the life you might have had was necessarily worse. I am thankful ╬ôçö genuinely, deeply ╬ôçö for David and Karen. And I am also allowed to be something other than thankful, something more textured, and it took Dr. Yoon two years to convince me of that. This week she asked what I was grateful for that had nothing to do with being adopted. I said: James. Korean food. The way rain sounds on the condo windows at four AM. She said, "Start there."

I spent the week planning the Thanksgiving menu, which is an exercise in negotiation between my two kitchens. Karen's green bean casserole, obviously ╬ôçö the one with the cream of mushroom soup and the fried onions, the recipe I attempted alone in this condo four years ago when I was twenty-three and eating Thanksgiving dinner by myself for the first time. It'll be different this year. James will be here. Turkey, because James likes turkey and I feel neutral about turkey, which is the strongest opinion anyone should have about turkey. Mashed potatoes, because Kevin requested them ╬ôçö he's not coming to Seattle but he asked me to FaceTime him while I eat mashed potatoes, which is such a Kevin request that I didn't even question it. And alongside all of it: kimchi. My kimchi, the November batch, three weeks fermented, tangy and alive.

I tested the green bean casserole on Wednesday because I haven't made it in a year and my hands needed to remember. It was exactly right ╬ôçö creamy, salty, the fried onions shattering on top like tiny, delicious debris. James tried it and said, "This is very... white." I said, "It's heritage food." He said, "Whose heritage?" And we both laughed, because the answer is mine ╬ôçö it's my heritage, Bellevue and Karen and split-level houses and casseroles made with canned soup, and I claim it the same way I claim kimchi jjigae, imperfectly and completely.

Saturday I roasted sweet potatoes with gochujang butter ╬ôçö a recipe I invented by accident last month that has become a weekly staple. The sweetness of the potato against the fermented heat of the gochujang, the butter browning at the edges. It's not Korean. It's not American. It's the space between, which is where I live.

The turkey was always going to be James’s department — I said I felt neutral about it, which is true, but neutral doesn’t mean careless. When I tested this garlic-mushroom preparation the week before, something clicked: the mushrooms pulled the whole table together, earthy and quiet, a flavor that didn’t ask whether it belonged on a Korean table or a Bellevue split-level one. Dr. Yoon told me to start with what I’m grateful for. I’m grateful for a dish that doesn’t have to explain itself.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs turkey breast, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Season the turkey. Pat turkey slices dry with paper towels. Season both sides evenly with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Sear the turkey. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add turkey slices in a single layer and cook 3–4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through (internal temp 165°F). Transfer to a plate and tent loosely with foil.
Sauté the mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet. Add mushrooms in a single layer and cook undisturbed for 3 minutes, then stir and cook another 2 minutes until browned and tender.
Build the sauce. Push mushrooms to one side. Add garlic to the open space and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add butter and thyme; stir to combine. Simmer 2–3 minutes until sauce reduces slightly.
Finish and serve. Return turkey slices to the skillet, spooning sauce and mushrooms over the top. Heat through for 1–2 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Garlic-Mushroom Turkey Slices — The Bird That Belongs to Both Tables