Name: Two-bean and Barley Salad with Pine Nuts
Ingredients: 1 pound dried black beans, soaked in enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches overnight or quick-soaked (procedure follows) and drained (½ – 1 pound dried beans — picked over); 1 cup barley — not quick-cooking; 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard; ¾ cup olive oil; 1½ cups finely chopped red onion; 1 pound green beans — trimmed; ½ cup pine nuts — toasted lightly

Why it works: Beans and green beans share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 36 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Two-bean and Barley Salad with Pine Nuts

Ingredients

1 pound dried black beans, soaked in enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches overnight or quick-soaked (procedure follows) and drained (½ – 1 pound dried beans — picked over)
1 cup barley — not quick-cooking
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
¾ cup olive oil
1½ cups finely chopped red onion
1 pound green beans — trimmed
½ cup pine nuts — toasted lightly

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

707Calories

18 gProtein

35 gFat

88 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Barley	1 cup cooked (157g)	193
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Black Bean	1/2 cup canned (120g) drained	114
Red Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Water	not in our table	0
Beans	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).

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.

Beans + green beanstop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together36 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together106 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together852 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together480 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + pinetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,062 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, barley, mustard, olive, onion, green beans, pine):

Avocadofits better
Limefits better
Cherryfits about as well
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, barley, mustard, olive, onion, green beans, pine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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