Name: Cucumber Chili Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients: 1 large cucumber - halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into bite-size pieces; 1 serrano chile pepper, seeded and minced; 1/2 red onion, sliced thin; 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, or to taste; 1 lime, juiced; 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil, or to taste; 1 teaspoon white sugar; salt and ground black pepper to taste

Why it works: Mint and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 846 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Cucumber Chili Salad

1 cup

Prep15 min

Ingredients

1 large cucumber - halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into bite-size pieces
1 serrano chile pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, or to taste
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil, or to taste
1 teaspoon white sugar
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

246Calories

2 gProtein

14 gFat

31 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Grapeseed Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Peppermint	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.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Mint + limetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together846 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,491 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cucumber + minttop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together884 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Cucumber + limetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together649 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,050 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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cucumber, pepper, mint, lime, sugar):

Capsicumfits better
Lettucefits better
Sweet potatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cucumber, pepper, mint, lime, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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