Name: Veal with Lima Beans
Ingredients: 1½ lb veal shoulder, cut into 1- inch cubes; 1 ounce butter; 1 large onion , grated; Salt and pepper , to taste; 1 can (8 ounces) diced tomatoes; 1 ½ lb of large lima beans

Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Veal with Lima Beans

Ingredients

1½ lb veal shoulder, cut into 1- inch cubes
1 ounce butter
1 large onion , grated
Salt and pepper , to taste
1 can (8 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 ½ lb of large lima beans

Directions

Prepare the meat

Wash the veal shoulder cubes thoroughly with cold water, drain, and place them in a pot together with butter and onions. Stir-fry over medium-high heat for a few minutes.
Add enough water to cover the meat. Add salt, pepper, and 2–3 tablespoons of the diced tomatoes. Cover the pot and let the meat boil.

Make the stew

Cut the ends off the lima beans and clean them well; cut them in half if desired. Add the beans to the meat after it has been boiling for several minutes, and add water until everything in the pot is covered.
When the beans are done boiling, add the remaining tomatoes. Let the stew boil for a few more minutes so the liquid can thicken.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

282Calories

10 gProtein

12 gFat

36 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
Lima Bean	1/2 cup (85g) cooked	108
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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.

Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + lima beanstop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together131 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + lima beanstop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together331 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal shoulder: Provides the meat that becomes tender and rich during long, gentle simmering.
Butter: Adds fat for stir-frying, helping the meat and onion brown and gain flavor.
Onion: Adds sweetness and aroma as it softens and browns in the pot.
Diced tomatoes: Add acidity and body, and thicken the stew's liquid as they reduce.
Lima beans: Add starch and a creamy texture as they cook into the stew.

The step that matters

Adding the remaining tomatoes at the end. Tomatoes added too early can slow the softening of the meat and beans. Adding them after the beans finish cooking, then boiling briefly, lets the liquid reduce and thicken without overcooking the beans.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, onion, pepper, tomato):

Beansfits better
Chickpeafits about as well
Lima beansthe original
Peasfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, onion, pepper, tomato. 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.

Tomato Soup526 recipes

Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes

Tomato Bisque61 recipes

Veal Patties50 recipes

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Veal with Lima Beans