Name: Grilled Vegetables with Romesco Sauce
Ingredients: 8 plum tomatoes, halved; 4 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise; 2 sweet red peppers, quartered; 2 yellow peppers, quartered; 1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed; 1 pound large mushrooms, stemmed; 7 tbs olive oil; 1½ tsp salt; 1¼ tsp black pepper; ⅓ cup toasted slivered almonds; 1 slice white bread, torn in pieces; 2 cloves garlic; 2 tbs sherry wine vinegar

Why it works: Tomato and olive 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 ↓

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.

Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Olive + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Plum + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,480 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Asparagus + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together400 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Mushroom + olivetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,571 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

Plum tomatoes: Grilling softens their flesh and concentrates sweetness, adding body to the sauce.
Olive oil: Carries flavor and coats the vegetables so they brown evenly on the grill.
Toasted slivered almonds: Ground into the sauce, they add body, richness and a nutty flavor.
White bread: Soaks up liquid and helps thicken the sauce to a paste-like texture.
Sherry wine vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances its richness.
Mushrooms: Release moisture and brown on the grill, giving a meaty, savory flavor.

The step that matters

Grilling the vegetables. Grill heat browns the sugars and proteins in the vegetables, building smoky flavor. Too little heat or time leaves them pale and watery, while too much dries them out.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (plum, tomato, pepper, asparagus, mushroom, olive, bread):

Beansfits better
Chickpeafits better
Peasfits better
Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against plum, tomato, pepper, asparagus, mushroom, olive, bread. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
White Bread	1 slice (30g) white	79
Plum	1 medium (66g)	30
Asparagus	6 spears (90g)	27
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Grilled Vegetables with Romesco Sauce