Mystery of the Vegetable Harvest

I remember back when I got hospitalized for gallstones back when I did that stupid crash diet in my 20s was when I first got introduced to this Whole Grain Medley. I was put on the B.R.A.T. diet which means Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast. Guess what? I actually took that shit seriously. For a few weeks.This was absolutely my go to meal on a frequent basis. Was very filling and was super quick to prepare back when I used the microwave. I have since boycotted it for personal reasons. Don't @ me.

Eventually I stopped eating it because I was running out of money and I sought out other options. So a few years later I tried to come back to this delicious meal but all of a sudden: I couldn't find it! Not at my usual Target not other stores I checked.

 Not necessarily a bad thing because it's better to make it at home anyway. I was able to find the pack contents of the package to give me some insight as a starting point:

 So off I set to look up a copycat. Can't be too hard, right? Everyone and their mother has all kinds of copycat recipes from various popular restaurants and brands!

Except that one does NOT exist!

For one, there was a rebrand due to the controversy of the name. So it's now currently called Ben's Original. Second, I googled and googled and couldn't find a single copycat on this exact title! I went to the Ben's Original website to check out their catalogue and I could NOT find a match. A few close ones but nothing with lentils AND barley with brown rice. 

Every rice needs seasoning right? Apparently, there is only one Ben's Original rice seasoning copycat I actually did come across. I honestly doubt it was the same as the Vegetable Harvest but I decided to give this a shot for my first try.

I grabbed the recipe from CD Kitchen which is technically for the Long Grain and Wild Rice but since it's within the same universe I wanted to try it for my first attempt. Only deviation is turmeric. Originally 1 tsp but my soul was telling me to half it so I did. 

Here is the recipe:

1 tbsp chicken bouillon

1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp dried minced onion

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp ginger ground

(this recipe called for 1 cup rice plus 1/4 cup wild rice)

I dusted off my rice cooker with 2 cups water to one cup of rice. I don't have brown rice so I used long grain jasmine. I also diced up 3 baby carrots and 1/4 of a green bell pepper. Gave everything a little mix and proceeded to set it and forget it.

Meanwhile, I ordered some hulled barley and brown lentils off of Amazon and cooked both separately!

For barley cooked the longest so I cooked 1 cup barley with 3 cups water. Boil. Lower to simmer and cover for around 40 minutes or until tender.

Lentils took much less time. 1 cup lentils to 4 cups water. Boil. Lower to simmer and cover for around 30 minutes. Mine personally cooked way less than that. Probably me waiting too long to cover it after it boiled too long. Oops.

I am never good at portions so what I ended up doing is taking 2 medium scoops from my rice cooker using the spoon the cooker came with. Using the same spoon I scooped a single scoop each from the barley and the lentils. Mix and enjoy.

Result?

I honestly can't give a good comparison to the original since it's been like 10ish years or so since I tried the OG. All I remember is that I loved it. Seriously can't recall the exact taste. Same with my recreation though. It's good.

After tasting, I will say this is for experiment purposes only. Not a healthy dish as is due to the intensity of flavor. If not for weight loss then go for it! Just adjust accordingly. I definitely will have to make adjustments to the seasonings. Way too much cumin, turmeric or even the pepper. Just felt like way too intense. I'm pretty sure this is what gave me heart palpitations. I probably should have kept it simple with a little bit of garlic salt and onion powder. 

I am not well versed with a rice cooker but for some reason, my rice actually was a little burned at the bottom of the cooker! I didn't even leave it on warm for longer either. I'd estimate the rice was there from the start of cooking about 20 minutes when I checked up on it. I did toss in the carrots and green bell pepper so I didn't think it would make a difference. Not sure if it even did. I'll make a note of it to add a but more water. The rice itself was okay. Perhaps slightly undercooked. Definitely will use slightly more water. It's an old Black Decker.

Overall, it was still a very yummy dish but next time I have some mental notes for the next time I try this out especially that burst of flavor from the seasonings! Then again, it is very likely that this Ben's Original rice seasoning copycat wasn't meant for this Whole Grain Medley Vegetable Harvest anyway. Keeping it simple from this point forward.

I plan to portion out the cooked barley and lentils for later use. So don't worry. I waste not. They fit perfectly in these Chobani 32oz containers. Woop woop. I ended up deciding to place the leftovers in the freezer rather than the  fridge to extend shelf life. Lasts a week in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer.

So yeah, guys. Please stay tuned as I continue my quest to find the perfect homemade version of this once loved dish of mine.