Name: Layered Southwestern Pasta Salad
Ingredients: 8 ounces medium shells, elbows or other medium pasta shape, uncooked; 2 teaspoons vegetable oil; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; Salt to taste; 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained; 1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained; 1 red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, cut into strips; 3/4 cup sliced green onions; 1 (2 1/4 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained; 3/4 cup mayonnaise (can use non-fat or lite); 1/2 cup sour cream (can use lite or non-fat); 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons hot or mild salsa; 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley

Why it works: Cumin and beans match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,188 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. 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.

Cumin + beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,188 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pasta + beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together176 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Beans + corntop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,211 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Pasta + cumintop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together56 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Beans + olivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,470 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Medium pasta shape: Forms the bulk of the salad and holds the dressing and other pieces together.
Black beans: Add body, protein-rich texture and a firm bite that holds up to chilling.
Mayonnaise: Provides fat and creaminess that coats the pasta and binds the dressing.
Sour cream: Adds tang and a smooth, creamy moisture to the dressing.
Salsa: Supplies acidity and chili flavor that season the creamy dressing.

The step that matters

Drain and rinse the pasta well before dressing it. Residual surface starch and warm moisture make pasta gummy and can thin the dressing. Thorough draining and cold rinsing stop cooking and cool the pasta so it stays separate and absorbs the dressing evenly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pasta, cumin, beans, corn, pepper, olive, cream):

Spinachfits better
Capsicumfits better
Tomatofits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pasta, cumin, beans, corn, pepper, olive, cream. 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
Pasta	1 cup cooked (140g)	220
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Olive	1 large (4g)	4
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Seed	not in our table	0

Layered Southwestern Pasta Salad