Name: Marinated Navy Beans and Zucchini
Ingredients: 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt or soy yogurt; 1/4 cup mayonnaise or soy mayonnaise; 1/4 cup snipped fresh dill; 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley; 1 Tbs. chopped fresh tarragon (optional); 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice or more to taste; 2 (15-oz.) cans navy or other white beans, rinsed and drained; 1 to 2 dill pickles, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced (1 cup); 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced; 1 small red bell pepper, finely diced; 1 scallion, thinly sliced; Dark green lettuce leaves for serving (optional)

Why it works: Tarragon and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 425 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Tarragon + lettucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together425 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together669 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,563 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Dill + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Navy beans: Provide the bulk and creamy body of the salad.
Yogurt: Adds tang and moisture to form the creamy dressing.
Mayonnaise: Adds fat and richness, giving the dressing a smooth, cohesive texture.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness.
Zucchini: Contributes moisture and a crisp, tender texture.

Swap the tarragon

The recipe marks tarragon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (yogurt, dill, parsley, lemon, beans, pepper, lettuce):

Tarragonthe original
Fennelfits about as well
Corianderfits about as well
Thymefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against yogurt, dill, parsley, lemon, beans, pepper, lettuce. 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
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Soy Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Soy Sauce	1 tbsp (15ml)	9
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Tarragon	1 tsp dried (0.5g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Bean	not in our table	0

Marinated Navy Beans and Zucchini