Name: Corn and Bean Salad
Ingredients: frozen corn; canned kidney beans; chopped cilantro; onions, chopped; balsamic vinegar; lemon juice

Why it works: Corn and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,205 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓

Corn and Bean Salad

Ingredients

Directions

My favorite is frozen corn added to a can of kidney beans, chopped cilantro, chopped onions, balsamic vinegar and some lemon juice. You can use your imagination after this point. For example, add some white beans and/or frozen green peas which have been just cooked slightly, about one minute

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

249Calories

12 gProtein

2 gFat

51 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Kidney Bean	1/2 cup canned (128g) drained	112
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1

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).

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.

Corn + oniontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,205 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,927 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,226 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Kidney beans + oniontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,050 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Corn + kidney beanstop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together192 recipes

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

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

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, kidney beans, onion, vinegar):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Coconutfits better
Lemonthe original

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