Name: Garden Vegetable Salad
Ingredients: 3 cups cooked rice (cooked in chicken broth), cooled; 1 1/2 cups sliced celery; 1 cup sliced green onions; 1/2 cup sliced radishes; 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 1/3 cup sour cream; 1 1/2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar; 1 teaspoon prepared mustard; 1 teaspoon dried dill weed; lettuce leaves (optional); cherry tomatoes for garnish (optional); Combine rice, celery, green onions and radishes.

Why it works: Celery and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 456 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.

Celery + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together456 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Rice + chickentop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,769 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,547 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,169 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked rice: Forms the bulk of the salad and carries the dressing between its grains.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and creaminess that coats the rice and vegetables.
Sour cream: Adds tang and moisture to the dressing, keeping the salad creamy.
Tarragon vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness.
Celery: Contributes crunch and fresh texture against the soft rice.

Swap the radish

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, chicken, celery, onion, cream, tarragon, vinegar):

Mustardfits better
Leekfits better
Lettucefits better
Radishthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, chicken, celery, onion, cream, tarragon, vinegar. 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
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2

Garden Vegetable Salad