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Spicy Strawberry Salad

"A friend once made this for a party to celebrate the beginning of summer. It is cool, crisp and crunchy - just what a salad should be."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,067 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

10 servings
Prep20 min

Ingredients

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

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Toast the chopped pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant. Let them cool completely.

  2. In a jar or bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, white sugar, poppy seeds, garlic powder, mustard powder and balsamic vinegar until the sugar dissolves and the dressing is smooth.

  3. Rinse and dry the mixed salad greens, then place them in a large serving bowl.

  4. Add the sliced fresh mushrooms and sliced strawberries to the greens.

  5. Scatter the cooled pecans over the top of the salad.

  6. Just before serving, pour about half the dressing over the salad and toss gently. Add more dressing to taste and toss again.

  7. Serve right away, passing any leftover dressing on the side.

By allrecipes. 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.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Poppy seed + pecanstop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together15 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Garlic + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Garlic + mustardtop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Garlic + vinegartop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together9,034 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Mustard and vinegar share little aroma chemistry, yet 14,067 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Flavor stand-ins for the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, poppy seed, garlic, mustard, vinegar, mushroom):

  1. Sesamebetter flavor fit
  2. Peanutbetter flavor fit
  3. Beansbetter flavor fit
  4. Pecansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, poppy seed, garlic, mustard, vinegar, mushroom. 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).