Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Green and Red Pepper Salad
Ingredients
Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place the peppers cut-side down on a baking sheet with a lip or a baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn peppers over and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Repeat previous step two more times. Total baking time is 25 minutes.
3. Remove tray from oven and cover with a clean dishtowel for 10 minutes. The peppers should be soft and tender and you can easily slip off the skins.
4. Cut the green peppers into a 1/4 inch dice. Slice the red pepper halves in half (now they will be quarters) and reserve.
5. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and stir for a minute, then add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the green peppers, lower the heat a bit and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, cumin and cayenne and mix well. Cook an additional 6 minutes looking for the mixture to loose some of its moisture.
6. Combine the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and whisk.
7. To assemble your salad, arrange the red pepper quarters on a serving platter -- a la spokes on a wheel or flower petals. Its fine if the overlap a bit. Drizzle dressing over the red peppers. Spoon the green pepper-tomato mixture into the center -- allowing some to casually spill over.
8. Alternately, you can arrange this on single serving platters with 2 red pepper quarters in a V-shape and the green pepper-tomato mixture placed where the two strips join together.
9. This salad can be served chilled or at room temperature.
Category:Ghanan Recipes
Category:Ghanan Salads
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Cumin | 1 tsp ground (2.1g) | 8 |
| Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,539 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,272 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Olive + cumintop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,853 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,498 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Pepper + cumintop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,382 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, olive, tomato, cumin):
- Capsicumfits better
- Eggplantfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, olive, tomato, cumin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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