Name: Avocado and Grapefruit Salad
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons verjus* or 3 1/2 teaspoons white grape juice and 2 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 2 tablespoons minced shallot; 1/4 cup walnut oil; 1/4 cup olive oil; Fine sea salt; 8 large butter lettuce leaves; 3 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, thinly sliced, rinsed under cold water; 3 large Ruby Red grapefruits, all peel and white pith cut away, segments cut from between membranes

Why it works: Grape and avocado work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and 81 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

The recipe

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

Contains: milk, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

2 tablespoons verjus* or 3 1/2 teaspoons white grape juice and 2 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced shallot
1/4 cup walnut oil
1/4 cup olive oil
Fine sea salt
8 large butter lettuce leaves
3 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, thinly sliced, rinsed under cold water
3 large Ruby Red grapefruits, all peel and white pith cut away, segments cut from between membranes

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By epicurious. 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.

Grape + avocadotop 12% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together81 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Lettuce + avocadotop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together464 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Lettuce + grapefruittop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together117 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Lemon + grapefruittop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together183 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Walnut + lettucetop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together491 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (grape, lemon, walnut, olive, butter, lettuce, avocado):

Tomatobetter flavor fit
Cucumberbetter flavor fit
Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against grape, lemon, walnut, olive, butter, lettuce, avocado. 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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