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Salad

Fattoush II

A Lebanese salad of toasted pita, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, cucumber, garlic, lemon, olive oil, and salt.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Fattoush II

Oven200°C (400°F)
Time5–10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the bread

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas mark 6.

  2. Cut the bread into small 2½ cm (1 inch) pieces.

  3. Place the bread on a baking tray.

  4. Toast in the oven for 5–10 minutes until crisp and light brown.

Assemble the salad

  1. In a large bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, parsley, spring onions, mint, garlic and cucumber. Add salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.

  2. Add the toasted bread and mix well.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

755Calories
19 gProtein
16 gFat
136 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Peppermintnot 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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + cucumbertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,405 recipes

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

  3. Mint + cucumbertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together884 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Plum + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,480 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Parsley + minttop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,198 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Pitta bread
Toasted until crisp, it adds crunch and soaks up the dressing without going soggy quickly.
Plum tomatoes
Provide juiciness and fresh acidity that moistens the salad.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the vegetables and balances the olive oil.
Olive oil
Carries flavour and coats the bread and vegetables, adding richness.
Cucumber
Adds cool, watery crispness that gives the salad moisture and texture.

The step that matters

Toast the bread until crisp and light brown. Bread that is underbaked stays soft and chewy, while overbaked bread turns bitter and hard. Toasting dries the crumb so it holds its crunch once dressed with juicy vegetables and lemon.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, plum, tomato, pepper, parsley, mint, cucumber):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Lettucefits better
  3. Eggplantfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, plum, tomato, pepper, parsley, mint, cucumber. 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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