Name: Mongolian Bean Salad
Ingredients: 1 cup garbanzo beans; 1 cup kidney beans; 1 cup wax beans; 1 cup ham, julienned; 1 cup swiss cheese; 1/2 cup sour cream (lowfat); 1 cup mayonnaise (lowfat); 1/4 cup lemon juice; 1 tablespoon dill weed; 2 tablespoons prepared mustard; salt and pepper

Why it works: Lemon and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 976 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.

Lemon + dilltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together976 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Beans + kidney beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together364 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Dill + mustardtop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together560 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together852 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beans + dilltop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together90 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mayonnaise: Provides fat and a creamy, smooth body that coats the beans and other ingredients.
Sour cream: Adds tang and creaminess, softening the richness of the mayonnaise.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the creamy dressing.
Swiss cheese: Adds savory flavor and small pieces of fat that give the salad a richer taste.
Kidney beans: Provide bulk, firm texture, and mild earthy flavor.
Ham: Adds salty, savory meaty flavor and chewy texture.

The step that matters

Chill the salad after combining. Chilling lets the dressing thicken slightly and the flavors blend. Serving it warm can make the mayonnaise and sour cream dressing loose and greasy, and the mustard and dill taste sharper before they mellow.

Swap the kidney beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, ham, swiss cheese, cream, lemon, dill, mustard):

Lentilsfits better
Chickpeafits better
Almondfits better
Kidney beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, ham, swiss cheese, cream, lemon, dill, mustard. 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
Pork	100g cooked	242
Kidney Bean	1/2 cup canned (128g) drained	112
Swiss Cheese	1 oz (28g)	108
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Dill	5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried	4
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0

Mongolian Bean Salad