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Salad

Tuna-Pasta Salad

A salad of green beans, tomatoes, scallions, olives, capers, garlic, tuna, pasta, and olive oil.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Capers and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,550 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Tuna-Pasta Salad

Time1 hour rest

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. Blanch the green beans in boiling water for about 2 minutes, or until just crisp but tender.

  2. Drain the beans, rinse them under cold water, and pat them dry.

Combine and dress

  1. In a large bowl, combine the cooked green beans with tomatoes, scallions, olives, capers, garlic, salt, pepper, and 4 tablespoons of parsley.

  2. Drizzle the olive oil over the mixture and fold gently.

  3. Let the salad rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour to blend flavors.

  4. Flake the tuna into large pieces and add to the salad.

  5. Add the cooked pasta and toss gently.

  6. Adjust seasonings and garnish with remaining tablespoon of parsley.

Serve

  1. Serve at room temperature.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

660Calories
32 gProtein
29 gFat
69 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Salmon100g cooked208
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Olive1 large (4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Capers1 tbsp (9g) drained2
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Beannot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

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).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Capers + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,550 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  5. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Green beans
Provide a crisp-tender texture that holds up against the soft pasta and tuna.
Olive oil
Adds fat and richness, carrying the flavor of the garlic and herbs through the salad.
Tuna
Supplies savory, meaty flakes that make the salad a complete protein dish.
Pasta
Forms the bulk of the salad and soaks up dressing for a cohesive texture.
Olives
Contribute salty, briny flavor and a firm bite to the salad.
Capers
Add sharp, acidic brininess that brightens the oil and tuna.

The step that matters

Drain and dry the blanched beans before combining. Residual water dilutes the olive oil dressing and prevents it from clinging to the ingredients, leaving the salad watery and bland. Blanching then cold-rinsing stops the cooking so the beans stay crisp rather than turning soft and dull.

Swap the plum

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

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, tomato, olive, capers, garlic, pepper, parsley. 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.

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