Name: Beets with Mustard Dressing
Ingredients: 4 medium beets; 1 tablespoons Dijon mustard; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 tablespoons cider vinegar; 1 teaspoons sugar; 1 teaspoons dried dill or 1 tablespoons fresh dill

Why it works: Lemon and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Beets with Mustard Dressing

Timeabout 20 minutes

Ingredients

4 medium beets
1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoons dried dill or 1 tablespoons fresh dill

Directions

Cook the beets

Wash the beets and cut off the tops.
Peel the beets, slice them into 1/4 inch thick rounds, and steam over boiling water until tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and place into a serving dish.

Dress and serve

Combine the mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar and dill.
Pour over the cooked beets and toss to mix.
Serve hot or chilled, or add to green salads.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

106Calories

2 gProtein

0 gFat

25 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Beet	1/2 cup (85g)	35
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cider	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Mustard + dilltop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together560 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cider + vinegartop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,431 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,816 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beets: Provide the main body and earthy flavor of the dish.
Dijon mustard: Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts through the sweetness of the beets.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the earthiness of the beets.
Cider vinegar: Adds further acidity to the dressing, sharpening its tang.
Sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the dressing.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mustard, cider, vinegar, sugar, dill):

Lemonthe original
Limefits about as well
Applefits about as well
Plumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mustard, cider, vinegar, sugar, dill. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.