Why it works: Tomato and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,164 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Halve and deseed the peppers and remove the white pith.
Cut each of the vegetables into even 3/4-inch cubes or squares.
Put the tomatoes and peppers into separate bowls, cover and refrigerate.
Put the cucumber cubes into a salad spinner or sieve. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of coarse salt and leave for 30 minutes.
Spin or drain and refrigerate.
Make the dressing
In a screw-top jar, shake together all the dressing ingredients except the fresh herbs until thickened, then add the dried mint (if used).
Leave for several to mature in flavour.
Assemble and serve
Put the cucumber, pepper and tomato cubes into a large bowl.
Stir in the chopped parsley and mint together with the dressing. Mix well using 2 spoons.
Arrange the salad in a fairly shallow.
Serve cool but not chilled.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,164 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Pepper + lemontop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cucumber + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,402 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + tomatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together17,913 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Cucumber + vinegartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,705 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cucumber
- Adds crisp texture and fresh moisture to the salad.
- Tomatoes
- Provide juiciness and body that blend into the dressing.
- Peppers
- Contribute crunch and a mild, slightly sweet vegetable flavour.
- Sunflower oil
- Supplies fat for a smooth mouthfeel and carries the flavours of the dressing.
- Wine vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the vegetables and balances the oil.
- Garlic
- Provides a pungent aroma that flavours the dressing.
The step that matters
Salting and draining the cucumber. Salt draws water out of the cucumber through osmosis. Draining it well keeps the salad crisp and stops excess liquid thinning the dressing.
Flavor stand-ins for the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, tomato, sunflower, olive, wine, vinegar, lemon):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Potatoabout as good a flavor fit
- Carrotabout as good a flavor fit
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, tomato, sunflower, olive, wine, vinegar, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
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