Name: Grilled Flatiron Steaks with Tomatoes and Tapenade
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients: 1/3 cup (or more) olive oil; 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1 cup pitted olives (such as Niçoise or Kalamata), chopped; 1 tablespoon minced capers; 1 garlic clove, minced; 1 anchovy fillet packed in oil, drained, minced (optional); 2 pounds flatiron, flank, hanger, or skirt steak; Kosher salt; Zest and juice of 1 orange; 1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano; 2 tablespoons minced garlic; 2 tablespoons smoked paprika; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes; 4 large tomatoes (about 3 pounds), sliced 1/4" thick; 1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings; 1/4 cup (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley leaves; 1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for drizzling; Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 bunch watercress, tough stems removed (about 4 cups); 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Why it works: Capers and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 405 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

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.

Capers + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together405 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + caperstop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,688 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Clove + oreganotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together556 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, capers, garlic, clove, anchovy, shallot, oregano):

Avocadofits better
Lemonfits better
Limefits better
Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, capers, garlic, clove, anchovy, shallot, oregano. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Anchovy	100g	210
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Watercress	1 cup (34g)	4
Capers	1 tbsp (9g) drained	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Grilled Flatiron Steaks with Tomatoes and Tapenade