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Couscous Bean Salad

A chilled salad of couscous, black beans, corn, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, green onion, parsley, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, and black pepper.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Couscous Bean Salad

Time5 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the couscous

  1. Prepare couscous according to recipe, but omit the salt.

  2. Bring water to a boil over high heat.

  3. Remove the pot from heat.

  4. Add couscous. Stir the mixture. Cover the pot.

  5. Let stand for 5 minutes.

  6. Fluff the couscous with a fork.

Prepare the vegetables and beans

  1. Cook frozen corn in the microwave until slightly tender. Drain the corn. Chill the corn.

  2. Rinse the black beans. Drain the black beans.

  3. Rinse the tomato, pepper, garlic, green onion, cilantro, and parsley. Chop the tomato, pepper, garlic, green onion, cilantro, and parsley. Set the chopped vegetables aside.

Combine and chill

  1. Combine the chopped vegetables with the black beans.

  2. Add the corn to the mixture.

  3. Add black pepper. Add lime juice. Add cumin.

  4. Add couscous. Toss the mixture well.

  5. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

495Calories
21 gProtein
3 gFat
102 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Couscous1 cup cooked (157g)176
Black Bean1/2 cup canned (120g) drained114
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Waternot in our table0

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

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Corn + beanstop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,211 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Couscous
Forms the bulk of the salad, giving it a light, fluffy body once hydrated.
Black beans
Add protein-rich body and a firm, hearty texture that holds up to the other ingredients.
Tomato
Adds moisture and fresh acidity to the salad.
Lime juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavors and balances the earthy beans and cumin.
Corn
Adds sweetness and a tender, juicy bite.

The step that matters

Let the couscous stand covered after adding it to the hot water. Covering traps steam so the couscous absorbs the liquid evenly and softens fully. Fluffing with a fork afterward separates the grains so they do not clump in the salad.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, beans, tomato, pepper, garlic, onion, parsley):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, beans, tomato, pepper, garlic, onion, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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