Name: Winter Weather Greens Salad
Ingredients: 1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds; 1 Tablespoon whole-grain mustard; 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 3/4 tsp coarse salt; 1 Tbs pure maple syrup; 2 Tbs cold-pressed sunflower oil; 1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced (= 3 cups); 3 cups of leafy greens such as Swiss chard or kale, stemmed and thinly sliced

Why it works: Mustard and chard share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Winter Weather Greens Salad

Oven375

Timeabout 10 minutes

Ingredients

1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 Tablespoon whole-grain mustard
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp coarse salt
1 Tbs pure maple syrup
2 Tbs cold-pressed sunflower oil
1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced (= 3 cups)
3 cups of leafy greens such as Swiss chard or kale, stemmed and thinly sliced

Directions

Prepare

Preheat oven to 375
Toast sunflower seeds in a single layer until golden, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool
Stir mustard, lemon juice, salt and maple syrup together in a small bowl; whisk in oil until emulsified

Assemble and serve

Toss Brussels sprouts, chard and/or kale together, then add sunflower seeds
Pour in dressing and toss to coat
Serve immediately

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

295Calories

10 gProtein

15 gFat

36 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Sunflower Seed	1 oz (28g) hulled	165
Brussels Sprout	1 cup (156g)	56
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Spinach	1 cup raw (30g)	7
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sunflower Oil	not in our table	0
Swiss Chard	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Mustard + chardtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together35 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Lemon + chardtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together88 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together233 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sunflower + chardtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together12 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together352 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Raw sunflower seeds: Toasting gives them a golden, nutty crunch that contrasts with the tender greens.
Whole-grain mustard: Its emulsifying compounds help hold the oil and lemon juice together as a dressing.
Lemon juice: Provides acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the sweetness of the maple syrup.
Pure maple syrup: Adds sweetness that rounds out the sharpness of the lemon and mustard.
Cold-pressed sunflower oil: Supplies fat that carries flavor and gives the dressing a smooth body.
Brussels sprouts: Thinly sliced, they add a crisp, slightly bitter texture that holds up to dressing.

The step that matters

Whisk the oil into the dressing until emulsified. Adding the oil slowly while whisking lets mustard help disperse it into tiny droplets. If it is poured in all at once, the dressing stays separated and coats the greens unevenly.

Swap the brussels sprouts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sunflower, mustard, lemon, maple syrup, chard):

Kalefits better
Broccolifits better
Spinachfits better
Brussels sproutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sunflower, mustard, lemon, maple syrup, chard. 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.

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Winter Weather Greens Salad