Name: Seasoned California Avocado, Shrimp, and Romaine Salad
Ingredients: Seasoned California Avocado; 4 California Avocados; 1 Tbsp Fresh lemon or lime juice; 1 tsp Finely chopped garlic; 1 tsp Ground cumin; 1 1/5 tsp Salt; ½ tsp Ground coriander; To taste (optional) Hot pepper sauce; Marinated Shrimp; 1 ½ Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar; 1 ½ Tbsp Finely chopped cilantro; 2 Tbsp Lightly toasted, ground pumpkin seeds; 1 tsp Sugar; 1 tsp Finely chopped garlic; ½ tsp Salt; 1/3 Cups Olive oil; 2 Pounds Shrimp (21 - 25 count, cooked, peeled, deveined); Coriander Seed Dressing; 1/3 Cups Seasoned Rice Vinegar; ¼ Cup Mirin wine (Japanese rice wine); 24 tsp Coriander seeds, coarsely crushed; ½ Cup + 2 tablespoons Olive oil; As needed Cilantro sprigs; As needed Colored tortilla strips or chips; 36 Hearts of romaine leaves

Why it works: Cumin and coriander match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,866 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. 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.

Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,866 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Avocado + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,094 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lemon + coriandertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,498 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Avocado + cumintop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together415 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Avocados: Provide the creamy body and rich fat of the salad.
Shrimp: Supply the main protein and firm, meaty texture against the soft avocado.
Olive oil: Adds fat and smoothness to the vinaigrettes and carries the flavors.
Red wine vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the marinade and balances the rich avocado.
Romaine leaves: Form a crisp base that holds the avocado and shrimp.

The step that matters

Mash avocado until creamy with bits remaining; do not puree.. Over-processing breaks down the avocado into a smooth paste and loses the pleasant chunky texture. Mashing by hand keeps some pieces intact while still making the mixture spreadable.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (avocado, garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper, sauce, shrimp):

Limefits better
Lemonthe original
Mangofits less well
Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against avocado, garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper, sauce, shrimp. 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
Avocado	1 medium (150g)	240
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Tortilla	1 medium flour (45g)	140
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Shrimp	100g cooked	99
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Lime	juice of 1 lime (44ml)	11
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Coriander	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Seed	not in our table	0

Seasoned California Avocado, Shrimp, and Romaine Salad