Tipiak’s Roasted Garlic Grains Blend showed up recently at Costco in East Lyme, and it piqued my curiosity. To date, I haven’t jumped onto the quinoa bandwagon, and couscous hasn’t made too many appearances in my kitchen. But the combo in an instant form with garlic seasoning sounded easy and adaptable. The only questions: Was it delicious and satisfying? So it jumped into my cart.

I prepared it straight up according to the package instructions — boil water and a spot of olive oil, add a packet of the grains, cover and remove from heat, wait 5 minutes, stir and serve. Pretty great stuff as a side dish; not overly salty and not overloaded with garlic. Subtle overall flavor and great texture that doesn’t clump. Over the next couple weeks, I used it as for a stuffing for stuffed peppers and the base ingredient for a soup. The Couscous starch thickened the broth nicely.

A must buy — highly recommended.

— Rich Swanson

Tipiak Roasted Garlic Grains Blend — currently $4.97 for a 1.92 lb box at Costco