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Garlicky Quinoa and Garbanzo Bean Salad

"This dish is a meal in itself-- it contains a good fat (olive oil), green vegetables (broccoli), a whole grain (quinoa), and a protein source (garbanzo beans)! It's also vegan. I usually have this for breakfast or lunch."

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Why it works: Quinoa and tarragon share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 9 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

The recipe

4 servings
Prep10 min
Cook15 min

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Rinse the quinoa well in a fine strainer. Combine it with the water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

  2. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and let it stand covered for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and cool slightly.

  3. Meanwhile, steam the chopped broccoli in a pan of boiling water over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until bright green and just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.

  4. In a large bowl, whisk together the minced garlic, lemon juice, dried tarragon, coarse-grain mustard, and olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

  5. Add the drained garbanzo beans, broccoli, and quinoa to the bowl. Toss gently until everything is evenly coated with the dressing.

  6. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, or garlic as needed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Quinoa + tarragontop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Broccoli + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together705 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Lemon + tarragontop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together884 recipes

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

  4. Quinoa + beanstop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together96 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Broccoli + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,072 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (quinoa, beans, broccoli, garlic, tarragon, mustard, olive):

  1. Avocadobetter flavor fit
  2. Lemonthe original
  3. Limeabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against quinoa, beans, broccoli, garlic, tarragon, mustard, olive. 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).