The Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chayim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in Parashat Pinchas (16), addresses the case of a person who partakes of a fruit over which one recites "Ha'etz" according to all views, as well as a fruit over which there is a dispute as to which Beracha one recites. The status of bananas, for example, is subject to a debate as to whether it requires the Beracha of "Borei Peri Ha'adama" or "Borei Peri Ha'etz." Our practice follows the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch in O"H siman203:3 that one recites "Borei Peri Ha'adama" over bananas, but there are authorities who disagree and require "Ha'etz." Thus, when one eats a banana with another fruit – such as an apple – over which all views require reciting "Borei Peri Ha'etz," he faces a Halachic dilemma of sorts. If he recites "Borei Peri Ha'etz" over the apple, then according to the authorities who require "Ha'etz" over bananas, he should not then recite a Beracha over the banana, since it was covered by the Beracha recited over the apple. According to the other views, however, he must of course recite "Ha'adama" before eating the banana.
The Ben Ish Chai rules that in such a case one should recite "Ha'etz" over the apple with the specific intent that the Beracha does not cover the banana. He thereby avoids this dilemma and may recite "Ha'adama" over the banana according to all views.
A similar dilemma arises in a situation where one eats whole-grain rice with vegetables. Although we follow the Shulchan Aruch's ruling in O"H siman 208:7 to recite "Borei Minei Mezonot" over whole-grain rice, other authorities maintain that one should recite "Ha'adama." In this case, too, one who first recites "Ha'adama" over the vegetables encounters the Halachic question of whether or not to recite a Beracha over the rice, as according to some authorities the rice was covered by the Beracha recited over the vegetables. Chacham Ovadia Yosef rules (in Chazon Ovadia – Laws of Tu B'Shvat, p. 277) that here, too, one should recite "Ha'adama" over the vegetables with clear intention that the Beracha should not apply to the rice. He may then recite "Mezonot" over the rice without concern.
Summary: One who eats an apple and a banana should first recite "Ha'etz" over the apple with the clear intent that the Beracha should not cover the banana; after eating the apple, he should then recite "Ha'adama" and eat the banana. If a person eats whole-grain rice with vegetables, he should recite "Ha'adama" over the vegetables with the intent that it does not cover the rice. After eating some vegetables, he should recite "Mezonot" over the rice.
