Why it works: Lettuce and pomegranate share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 35 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
The recipe
2 saladsIngredients
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Rinse and tear the green leaf lettuce if needed, then divide it between two serving bowls or plates.
Core one Bartlett or Anjou pear, cut it into thin slices, and arrange the slices over the lettuce.
In a small bowl, whisk the vegetable oil, pomegranate juice, lemon juice, Dijon-style mustard, honey, and ground black pepper until smooth.
Let the dressing stand for 2 minutes so the honey dissolves fully, then whisk once more.
Drizzle the dressing over both salads, scatter the pomegranate seeds on top, and toss gently just before serving.
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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Lettuce + pomegranatetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together35 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Lettuce + mustardtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,356 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pear + honeytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together169 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Pomegranate + lemontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together225 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 mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, pear, pomegranate, lemon, honey, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Beetrootbetter flavor fit
- Spinachbetter flavor fit
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, pear, pomegranate, lemon, honey, 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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