Trader Joe’s Melodious Blend ♥ Product Review

Which frozen vegetables from Trader Joe's taste good? are worth eating? and worth the money? Let's look at a product from the freezer section called ... um ... Melodious Blend, which is a weird name but at least it's shorter than what it is, Green Garbanzo Beans, Red & Green Lentils with a Touch of Tomatoes and Olive Oil.

Easy Microwave Lentil Side Dish from Trader Joe's. Low Fat. Vegan. Weight Watchers Friendly (Blue & Purple Plans). Naturally Gluten Free.

This Is NOT a Sponsored Review, it's just me, Alanna and your long-time veggie evangelist, sharing a Trader Joe's vegetable product that I think my fellow vegetable lovers might also find useful!

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The Short Answer: Recommended With Reservations.

On the downside, these frozen lentils and garbanzo beans are bland and mushy. They are very high in sodium.

On the upside, the ingredient list is clean, 100% real food. They're frozen so will keep for several weeks. They heat in minutes in the microwave, right in the bag too. They're quite low in fat and quite high in protein.

On balance, I won't be buying them again but can see how they would be useful in some kitchens. And they did contribute to a fine weeknight meal last month.

What's in the 12-Ounce (340g) Bag? on the Ingredient List?

Cooked Green Lentils. Cooked Red Lentils. Cooked Green Garbanzo Beans. Tomatoes. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Sea Salt.

How Many Servings?

The package contains two cups. In Trader Joe's world, that's two servings and depending on how you're using them, a cup may be just right. It was for us, one part of a big dinner salad.

What's the Country of Origin?

United States & Spain but packed in the U.S.

How to Cook, Two Choices

Trader Joe's provides instructions for both cooking in a saucepan on the stove and right in the package in the microwave. I went for the microwave, it worked great.

The Package vs Reality

No comparison. The package cover shows a pretty, multi-colored mixture with bits of red tomato and tiny green garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas). At home, there was no sign of tomato and the tiny green garbanzo beans look like peas. The lentils were all mushed together, nothing distinct, nothing pretty.

And what's with the name?! Melodious? Really? I guess they mean melodious as in "agreeable" or "pleasing" not the more expected "harmonic" or something with, you know, an actual melody. Methinks the Trader Joe's people ran out of good ideas and just threw a dart toward a thesaurus.

The Taste

Oh my. Bland Bland Bland. Adding salt made a big difference.

But then I was shocked to study the nutrition label. One cup, what Trade Joe's calls a serving, adds up to a big 370 grams of sodium all on its own. That's a lot.

On the upside, that same one cup also has 12 grams of protein, that's a plus.

The Texture

Mushy. Mushy. Mushy. There's no fixing mushy. BUT!

That said! I can definitely imagine this being a useful addition to a freezer. It was so-so easy to cook in the microwave and it made a great base for a big dinner bowl. Even my meat-loving husband loved this salad.

What was in that bowl? Here it is, bottom to top, we love salads like these.

• Fresh spinach.
• The Melodious Blend.
• Roasted Cauliflower. (Or roasted carrots or sweet potato or ...)
• A new version of My Everyday Creamy Herb Salad Dressing made with the juice of a lemon and a big handful of cilantro, very good.
• Sliced avocado.
• Chopped toasted hazelnuts.

Make It Homemade?

You bet, especially Best-Ever Lentil Salad. It's NOT bland and it's NOT mushy and it's NOT so salty.

But a homemade lentil salad takes some effort to make, too. Interestingly, I find a half cup of my homemade lentil salad filling and satisfying where even a cup of the Melodious Blend wasn't. It was just food, just fuel.

Still, don't get me wrong, Melodious Blend is super convenient. It has its place.

Trader Joe's Fans

If you love Trader Joe's, look for more product reviews here, Trader Joe's Product Reviews. Enjoy!

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TRADER JOE'S MELODIOUS BLEND

Hands-on time: 5 minutes or 15 minutes
Time to table: 5 minutes or 15 minutes
Makes 2 cups

1 12-ounce (340g) package Trader Joe's Melodious Blend, still frozen
Salt to taste

Microwave Instructions: Do not open or pierce the bag. Place << face down >> in the microwave and cook on high for 3 to 4 minutes, the bag is designed to inflate and vent itself. Let rest for 1 minute, then carefully lift (the bag is hot) and carefully cut open. In our microwave, another minute was needed so I was glad the cut I'd made in the bag allowed for that. Taste and adjust the salt.

Stovetop Instructions: In a medium-size saucepan with the lid on, heat the package contents and two tablespoons water over medium heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust the salt.

NUTRITION INFORMATION
#1 Trader Joe's says a serving is one cup but I'm using a half cup below to keep asparagus-to-asparagus comparisons in line here on A Veggie Venture.
#2 I finagled a close approximation of Trader Joe's with the MacGourmet nutrition software I use, then calculated the Weight Watchers points. It was actually quite amazing to get remarkably close!

Per Half Cup: 107 Calories; 3g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 202mg Sodium; 16g Carb; g6 Fiber; 2g Sugar; 7g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 1 & PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 0 & myWW green 3 & blue 0 & purple 0

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