Photo: carcofi/Flickr

As you may have figured out last week, at this time of winter it’s getting harder and harder for me to stick to seasonal eating. Frozen vegetables, however, are a nice compromise – though they may lack the flavor of a fresh and firm produce-stand pick, they are easier to prepare and arguably healthier.

With that in mind, it’s easy to justify buying frozen artichoke hearts for this recipe for Fregola with Artichokes, Feta, Almonds and Herbs — a lovely-looking vegetarian dish by way of Serious Eats. In case you’re wondering: “Fregola is a hard-to-find pasta that’s similar to cous cous (Israeli cous cous is a fine replacement if you can’t find fregola), but larger, chewier, and toasted, which gives it a nutty quality.” A tip: if you, like me, are unable to find Fregola at the supermarket, here’s how to toast cous cous.

The flavors here scream spring — mint! lemon! — even as the warm and creamy preparation is classic winter comfort food. It is still, after all, early March.

(One confession — even if artichokes were in season, I’d probably still buy them frozen. Who has time to deal with preparing a fresh artichoke?)