Name: Indian Bean, Broccoli & Carrot Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 250g green beans , trimmed; 1 head of broccoli , cut into florets; 2 tsp vegetable oil; 2 tsp black mustard seeds; ½ tsp dried chilli flakes; 100g frozen peas (or use fresh); 3 large carrots , grated; large bunch coriander , roughly chopped; 3 tbsp sunflower seeds; 200ml natural yogurt; ½ cucumber , peeled and grated; thumb-sized piece ginger , grated; ½ tsp ground cumin; juice and zest 1 lime; 1 tbsp chopped mint leaves; pitta bread , to serve (optional)

Why it works: Broccoli and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 705 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. 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.

Broccoli + mustardtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together705 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Green beans + peastop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together54 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Coriander + sunflowertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together369 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Carrot + coriandertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,297 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Broccoli + sunflowertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together146 recipes

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

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

Swap the green beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (broccoli, mustard, peas, carrot, coriander, sunflower, yogurt):

Lettucefits better
Beetrootfits better
Cucumberfits better
Green beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against broccoli, mustard, peas, carrot, coriander, sunflower, yogurt. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sunflower Seed	1 oz (28g) hulled	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Pea	1/2 cup (72g)	62
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Mint	2 tbsp fresh (3g)	2
Seed	not in our table	0
Coriander	not in our table	0

Indian Bean, Broccoli & Carrot Salad