Name: Basmati Rice with Summer Vegetable Salad
Yield: Makes 2 to 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 small shallot, chopped; 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves; Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper; 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 2 cups cooked basmati rice, cooled; 2 cups bite-size pieces assorted vegetables (such as radishes, tomatoes, peas, summer squash) or carrot ribbons; 3/4 cup torn mixed leafy greens, sprouts, and herbs; 1/3 cup chopped red, yellow, or white onion or scallions; 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional)

Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. 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.

Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,737 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,476 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

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

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, red wine, vinegar, thyme, pepper, olive, basmati rice):

Tomatofits about as well
Capsicumfits about as well
Shallotthe original
Carrotfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, red wine, vinegar, thyme, pepper, olive, basmati rice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Pine	1 oz (28g)	191
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0

Basmati Rice with Summer Vegetable Salad