What's cooking: A spring menu

How lucky am I when the contents of my weekly produce box match the recipes in the food section of the San Francisco Chronicle from one of my favorite cookbook authors and columnists? Georgeane Brennan had a column on spring entertaining, listing two menus with recipes. Saturday night I made the first, featuring roast chicken stuffed with thyme, using green garlic, radishes, fava beans, and asparagus from my box.

I put the chickens in the oven first (I always make two so the MIL has one to take home). Although the recipe doesn't list it, I always like to tie a roasting chicken. I make a loop around the end of each leg, pull together, and tie.


I then bring the ends under the bird, crossing, and bringing up to the top to tie again.


While the chickens were in the oven, we started with her appetizer of fava beans, radishes, butter, salt, and bread. The combination is like a bite of spring bursting in your mouth.


For our cocktail I chose the South Side, which blogger Melissa Morris gave the recipe for last summer. It's been a warm-weather favorite at our house ever since and is another great use for the Meyer lemons and mint in my garden this time of year.

When the chicken was ready

I served it with chilled asparagus with tarragon mayonnaise (I often make my own mayonnaise, but I wanted to try Best Food's new canola-based version; Cook's Illustrated gave it a good review, and I concur—not bad at all for something that has no cholesterol and half the fat!)

and baby Yukon gold potatoes and artichokes.


We finished with a salad, including some wonderful red lettuce from our box,


and a simple dessert of fresh sliced strawberries in lavender syrup over vanilla ice cream.

And the best part of dinner? My happy MIL. Picture taken by Sophie.