Name: Garden Couscous and Black Bean Salad
Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked couscous; 2 cups cooked black beans or 16-oz. can, drained and rinsed; 1 large stalk celery, diced; 1 small red bell pepper, diced; 2 medium tomatoes, diced; 1/2 cup chopped green olives; 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley; 2 Tbs. chopped fresh dill; 2 green onions (white and pale green parts), thinly sliced; Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon to taste; 2 Tbs. olive oil; Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Why it works: Parsley and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 669 recipes. Both carry p-mentha-1,3,8-triene, which smells camphor, herbal. 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.

Parsley + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together669 recipes

Shared aroma: p-mentha-1,3,8-triene (camphor, herbal).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,810 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 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

Couscous: Absorbs the water and forms the light, fluffy body of the salad.
Black beans: Add protein-rich bulk and a firm, earthy texture that holds up when tossed.
Tomatoes: Contribute moisture and acidity that brighten the salad.
Green olives: Add salty, briny flavor and a firm bite.
Olive oil: Adds fat that coats the grains and carries flavor.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that balances the richness of the oil and brightens the herbs.

The step that matters

Fluffing and cooling the couscous before mixing. Couscous keeps absorbing liquid as it sits, so if it is tossed while still warm or clumped, the grains turn gummy. Fluffing with a fork separates the grains, and cooling them fully lets the vegetables and dressing mix in without making the salad soggy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, celery, pepper, tomato, olive, parsley, dill):

Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Lettucefits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, celery, pepper, tomato, olive, parsley, dill. 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
Couscous	1 cup cooked (157g)	176
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Garden Couscous and Black Bean Salad