Name: Mark's Kidney Bean Salad
Ingredients: 16 oz (1 can) kidney beans; -rinsed well; -=or=-; 16 oz (1 can) pinto beans, rinsed; -well; 1 celery stalk, diced; 1 tsp dill pickle, grated; 2 tsp onion, grated; 1 egg white, hard-cooked; -chopped finely; romaine lettuce leaves; 1/4 cup anchovy yogurt dressing

Why it works: Beans and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 500 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

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.

Beans + lettucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together500 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Kidney beans + beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together364 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Celery + dilltop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together382 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Celery + lettucetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,033 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Dill + lettucetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together159 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Kidney beans: Provide firm, whole pieces that give the salad its body and bulk.
Pinto beans: Add a firm, mild bean texture that holds its shape when mixed.
Celery: Adds a crisp, fresh crunch that contrasts with the soft beans.
Egg white: Adds chopped firm protein for texture and a mild, savory body.
Anchovy yogurt dressing: Adds creaminess and moisture, with tang from the yogurt.

The step that matters

Mix lightly. Gentle folding keeps the beans whole and intact. Vigorous stirring breaks down the bean skins and softens the flesh, making the salad pasty.

Swap the kidney beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, celery, dill, onion, egg, lettuce, anchovy):

Chickpeafits better
Lentilsfits better
Sesamefits better
Kidney beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, celery, dill, onion, egg, lettuce, anchovy. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Anchovy	100g	210
Pinto Bean	1/2 cup (86g) canned	122
Kidney Bean	1/2 cup canned (128g) drained	112
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Romaine Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4

Mark's Kidney Bean Salad