Golden Jewel Blend

Last week I went to grab a jar of artichoke hearts from the back of our cabinet and discovered this box of Golden Jewel Blend grains from Wegmans lurking on the shelf. It expired back in January since I forgot about it, but that certainly wasn't going to stop me from using it. The combination sounded so interesting.

The Golden Jewel Blend (which according to this is manufactured by a company named Indian Harvest) contained a blend of Israeli couscous, tri-colored orzo pasta, split baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa.

We usually don't find quinoa to be a very distinctive grain. It's healthy but it's kind of just there. That's true here too. The flavor and texture in this grain blend instead comes from the Israeli couscous (one of my favorite types of grain), the orzo (which adds wonderful color as well), and the crunchy harder garbanzo bean pieces. The Israeli couscous was the star of the dish and tied it all together.

We liked this grain blend and it's very easy and quick (about 15 minutes) to make. At $3 a box, it's not that cheap but it's a great meal accompaniment and a nice change from just eating rice.

ETA: I was at Trader Joe's the day after I posted this and found this Harvest Grains Blend, which looked remarkably similar to the Golden Jewel Blend. I don't know if it's made by the same manufacturer, but it has all the same ingredients in a larger bag for a slightly lower price. (Turns out I had a bag of this at home already but forgot.) If you're like us and you don't live near a Wegmans but live near a Trader Joe's, looks like you can pick this up too!