Name: Gourmet Green Rice
Ingredients: 3 cups cooked rice; 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese; 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley; 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper; 1/3 cup chopped onion; 1 1/2 cups milk or half and half; 2 eggs, beaten; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt; 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; Juice and peel of 1 lemon; Paprika; Green pepper rings for garnish (optional); Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cheddar cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,436 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the mixture and help the casserole set as it bakes.
Cheddar cheese: Adds richness and flavor, and melts into the rice to bind it together.
Milk: Provides moisture and softens the rice while the eggs set the dish.
Cooked rice: Forms the bulk of the casserole and holds the other ingredients together.
Butter: Adds fat and richness to the custard-like mixture.

The step that matters

Blending the milk and egg mixture into the rice. Stirring until thoroughly blended spreads the eggs and liquid evenly, so the casserole sets uniformly rather than in patches.

Swap the parsley

The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, cheddar cheese, pepper, onion, milk, egg, butter):

Parsleythe original
Garlicfits about as well
Nutmegfits about as well
Cinnamonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, cheddar cheese, pepper, onion, milk, egg, butter. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Cheddar Cheese	1 oz (28g)	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Gourmet Green Rice