Why it works: Green beans and cherry tomato share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 31% of all ingredient pairs. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
8 servingsIngredients
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of kosher salt.
Add the green beans and boil for 3 minutes, then add the asparagus and boil 2 minutes more until crisp-tender.
Drain well and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking, then drain again thoroughly.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the green beans and asparagus, season with salt and black pepper, and cook 4 minutes, stirring, until lightly browned in spots.
Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.
Add the chopped red onion, halved cherry tomatoes and chopped parsley to the bowl.
Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the salad, toss gently, and season with more salt and pepper to taste.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.
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.
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Green beans + cherry tomatotop 31% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together0 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Green beans + asparagustop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together18 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Green beans + olivetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together203 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Olive + parsleytop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,668 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the cherry tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (green beans, olive, asparagus, onion, parsley, pepper):
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Cherrybetter flavor fit
- Cherry tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against green beans, olive, asparagus, onion, parsley, 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).
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