Why it works: Rutabaga and thyme work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 57 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 8Ingredients
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Lightly grease a large roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet.
Place the peeled, cubed rutabagas in a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat evenly.
In a small bowl, stir together the garlic and herb seasoning, dried basil, dried rosemary, dried ground sage, dried oregano, dried parsley, dried thyme and dried dillweed.
Sprinkle the herb mixture over the rutabagas and toss again until every piece is evenly coated.
Spread the rutabagas in a single layer on the prepared pan, leaving space between pieces so they roast rather than steam.
Roast for 25 minutes, then stir or turn the pieces with a spatula.
Continue roasting for 20 to 25 minutes more, until the rutabagas are tender and golden brown at the edges. Test with a fork; it should slide in easily.
Remove from the oven and let rest for 3 minutes before serving.
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.
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Rutabaga + thymetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together57 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Rosemary + sagetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together465 recipes
Shared aroma: 1,8-cineol (eucalyptus, camphor).
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Basil + oreganotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,390 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Rosemary + oreganotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together344 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Rosemary + thymetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,340 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rutabaga, olive, basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Marjorambetter flavor fit
- Cuminbetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rutabaga, olive, basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley. 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).
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