Name: Asparagus Salad
Ingredients: canned asparagus; 1 bright red pepper; lettuce leaves; French dressing; 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

Why it works: Asparagus and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 313 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Drain and rinse the canned asparagus.
Cut the red pepper into 1‑3 inch wide rings.

Assemble and serve

Place 3 or 4 asparagus stalks in each pepper ring.
Arrange the rings on lettuce leaves.
Serve with French dressing mixed with tomato ketchup.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Asparagus + lettucetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together313 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lettuce + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,655 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together313 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + lettucetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,037 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

Canned asparagus: Forms the main vegetable body of the salad and gives its mild flavour.
Red pepper: Adds crisp texture and mild sweetness, and holds the asparagus in place.
Lettuce leaves: Provides a crisp base that keeps the rings presented neatly.
French dressing: Adds fat and acidity that moisten and season the salad.
Tomato ketchup: Adds sweetness and tang to the dressing.