
This weather is killing me. I refuse to recognize the wet drizzle, hail(!), and snow. Yes, I'm the one admiring the cherry blossoms in capri pants and a light sweater--shivering. A hopeful tourist who packed the wrong clothes? Nope, a stubborn Washingtonian who already packed away her winter jacket, has only linty black tights remaining, refuses to buy new ones, and expects pretty flowers to mean good weather.
There is no way I'm wearing North Face again this season. No way.
But I will give way to a pot of hot soup. This recipe is from Cuisine at Home. The bold ingredients caught my eye, plus I couldn't resist the "promise of traveling to an exotic land without leaving your kitchen or renewing your passport." (I love absurdly bad copy).
All snarky comments aside, this soup is brimming with flavor (like a trip to North Africa!), and the lemon-apricot couscous made sure it was a satisfying meal, perfect for these hard, cold days of spring in Washington. I made one slight change to the recipe. I used dry beans instead of canned beans.
My only critique is that the canned artichoke hearts didn't add much flavor. Which brings me to a million dollar question that I'm hoping someone out there can answer. Are frozen artichokes better than canned ones? Say the word, and I'll make the switch.