Name: Macedonian Salad II
Ingredients: 2 small eggplants; 2 medium tomatoes; 2 scallions; 1 cucumber; 1 green pepper; 1 sweet red pepper; chopped parsley; Marinade:; 2 cloves crushed garlic; juice from 1 lemon; 3/4 C white vinegar; 1/2 tsp sale; black pepper; 1 tsp basil; 1/2 tsp each oregano & thyme; 1/2 tsp oregano & thyme

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).
Eggplant + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together801 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Eggplant + cucumbertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together214 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Eggplant + tomatotop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together651 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggplant: Forms the main body of the salad and soaks up the marinade as it cools.
White vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the salad and helps balance the oil-free marinade.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity and fresh brightness to the marinade.
Garlic: Contributes sharp aroma that mellows as the salad marinates.

The step that matters

Broil the eggplant to the right tenderness. Eggplant flesh collapses and turns watery if overcooked, but stays firm and bitter if undercooked. A fork should slide in easily so the slices hold their shape and absorb the marinade well.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (eggplant, tomato, cucumber, pepper, parsley, garlic, lemon):

Oreganofits better
Basilfits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against eggplant, tomato, cucumber, pepper, parsley, garlic, lemon. 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
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Eggplant	1 cup cubed (82g)	35
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Oregano	1 tsp dried (1.8g)	5
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1

Macedonian Salad II