The Project: A last fling with spring

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Technically, summer doesn’t begin until June 21. But the unofficial start of summer is Memorial Day. From here on through September, it’s going to be all about chilling and grilling.

So this week’s Project -- a recipe we hand pick from the L.A. Times archives that’s perfect for weekend cooking -- bids an early farewell to spring. And we’re trying something a little different this week. Instead of just a single dish, like we’ve done in the past, we’re offering up a full menu. That’s because the main entree, roast poussin with spring garlic-herb stuffing takes only about an hour to make, and most of that is oven-cooking time. Which should leave plenty of time to make two side dishes that also highlight fresh, seasonal produce: Baby artichoke and pea shoot salad with favas and pecorino Romano and chive-glazed baby carrots.

If you try it, let me know what you think. Better yet -- send me a picture of your finished dish at rene.lynch@latimes.com. And if you have any dishes -- or favorite L.A. Times Test Kitchen recipes -- that you’d like to see featured in future Projects, let me know and we’ll dig through the archives for it.

And enjoy. Summer is just around the corner ...

--Rene Lynch
twitter.com/renelynch