Name: Field Salad with Pancetta and Walnuts
Yield: Serves 4.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup walnuts; 3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta or bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces; 2 to 3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste; 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 6 to 8 cups torn salad greens, including some bitter varieties (see note above); Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for shaving

Why it works: Walnut and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,087 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓

Field Salad with Pancetta and Walnuts

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1/2 cup walnuts
3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta or bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 to 3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 to 8 cups torn salad greens, including some bitter varieties (see note above)
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for shaving

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

310Calories

11 gProtein

29 gFat

3 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
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 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Walnut + olivetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,087 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,263 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Olive + cheesetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,802 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Vinegar + cheesetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together922 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

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

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, pepper, olive, cheese):

Beansfits about as well
Sesamefits about as well
Walnutthe original
Soybeanfits about as well

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

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