Name: Green Salad with Olive Dressing
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 1 small red onion , finely chopped; 50g green olives , finely chopped; 2 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; 2 tsp golden caster sugar; 6 big handfuls mixed green salad leaves - pick a bag with different flavours and textures

Why it works: Onion and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,779 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Green Salad with Olive Dressing

Serves 6

Prep15 min

Ingredients

1 small red onion , finely chopped
50g green olives , finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp golden caster sugar
6 big handfuls mixed green salad leaves - pick a bag with different flavours and textures

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

219Calories

1 gProtein

14 gFat

23 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salad	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Onion + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Red wine + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together575 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Olive + red winetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,318 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,226 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, red wine, vinegar, sugar):

Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Mustardfits better
Onionthe original

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

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.