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Kale and Red Bean Gumbo

Authentic gumbo uses okra as a thickener. Instead of okra, you can substitute 2 Tbs. long-grain rice. Add it to the pot when you cook the vegetables.

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Why it works: Kale and okra share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 8 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Directions

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

By williamssonoma. 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. Kale + okratop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together8 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Oregano + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together791 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Tomato + beanstop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,711 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,767 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + okratop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together327 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (kale, pepper, tomato, oregano, thyme, beans, okra):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Carrotbetter flavor fit
  3. Spinachbetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against kale, pepper, tomato, oregano, thyme, beans, okra. 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).