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Lemon Rice

A lemon-flavored rice dish with celery, onion, mushrooms, and thyme.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,973 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Lemon Rice

Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the rice

  1. Sauté sliced celery and chopped onion in 3 tbsp melted butter in a large skillet.

  2. Stir in water, lemon rind, lemon juice, thyme, salt and pepper.

  3. Bring mixture to a boil.

  4. Add rice and cover the mixture.

  5. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Add the mushrooms

  1. Sauté mushrooms in remaining 3 tbsp butter in a small skillet until tender, then drain.

  2. Add mushrooms to the rice mixture and stir well.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

395Calories
9 gProtein
13 gFat
65 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Mushrooms1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

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.

  1. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Celery + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,467 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Uncooked long-grain rice
Forms the body of the dish, absorbing the cooking liquid as it softens.
Lemon juice
Adds bright acidity that balances the butter and savory vegetables.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and carries flavor through the vegetables and rice.
Mushrooms
Contribute savory flavor and moisture as they cook down in the butter.
Onion
Provides a sweet, savory aromatic base once softened in butter.
Celery
Adds mild, fresh savory flavor and some crisp texture to the base.

The step that matters

Simmer covered on reduced heat. Keeping the pot covered and the heat low lets the rice steam and absorb the liquid evenly as its starch softens. Too much heat can scorch the bottom before the grains are tender.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, butter, lemon, thyme, pepper, rice, mushroom):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, butter, lemon, thyme, pepper, rice, mushroom. 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.

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