Why it works: Safflower and walnut share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 12 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
The recipe
4 servingsIngredients
Contains: tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Whisk together the safflower oil, walnut oil, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and minced dill in a small bowl.
Season the dressing with salt and pepper to taste and whisk again.
Place the diced tomatoes, chopped celery, chopped green onion and chopped drained red beets in a large bowl.
Pour about two-thirds of the dressing over the vegetables and toss gently to coat.
Taste the salad and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so the flavors blend, keeping the chilled salad cold until serving.
Just before serving, toss again and drizzle with the remaining dressing.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Safflower + walnuttop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together12 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together976 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Dill + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,630 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
Flavor stand-ins for the safflower
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (walnut, olive, red wine, vinegar, lemon, dill, pepper):
- Rosemarybetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Parsleybetter flavor fit
- Safflowerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against walnut, olive, red wine, vinegar, lemon, dill, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
The Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.