Name: Fresh Tomato Salad with Preserved Lemon
Ingredients: 2 large ripe tomatoes in medium dice (preferably peeled, seeded, then diced); 1 peeled celery stalk; cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced; 1/4 cup yellow bell pepper in small dice; 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley; 2 tablespoons minced preserved lemon (peel only); Kosher salt; 3/4 - 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger; 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 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.

Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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).
Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,272 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cumin + gingertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,733 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes: Provide the main body, juice and sweetness of the salad.
Preserved lemon: Adds bright, salty, acidic citrus flavour that cuts through the tomatoes.
Ground cumin: Adds warm, earthy aroma that complements the tomatoes and herbs.
Balsamic vinegar: Adds acidity and depth, balancing the sweetness of the ripe tomatoes.
Ginger: Adds a sharp, aromatic bite to the salad.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, celery, pepper, parsley, lemon, cumin, vinegar):

Tarragonfits better
Thymefits better
Corianderfits better
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, celery, pepper, parsley, lemon, cumin, 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
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Celery	1 stalk (40g)	6
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Fresh Tomato Salad with Preserved Lemon