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Salad

Cold Vegetable Salad

A chilled salad of corn, peas, beans, celery, green pepper, and purple onion, dressed with apple cider vinegar, sugar, pepper, oil, and salt.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cold Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Make and marinate

  1. Mix vegetables.

  2. Mix marinate ingredients and pour over vegetables.

Serve and store

  1. Drain to serve.

  2. Serve cold.

  3. Keep refrigerated.

  4. Will keep several days.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

397Calories
10 gProtein
16 gFat
59 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Pea1/2 cup (72g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Saladnot in our table0

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.

  1. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Corn + celerytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together920 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  4. Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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

White corn
Provides the main bulk and mild sweetness of the salad.
Baby limas
Adds firm, starchy texture that holds up well after marinating.
Green peas
Adds tender bite and color to the mixed vegetables.
Apple cider vinegar
Acidity in the marinade brightens flavor and helps preserve the vegetables.
Sugar
Sweetens the marinade to balance the sharpness of the vinegar.
Salad oil
Adds fat that carries flavor and coats the vegetables.

The step that matters

Pour the marinade over the vegetables while they are still well drained. Excess liquid from the canned vegetables dilutes the marinade, weakening its vinegar and sugar balance. Draining first lets the dressing cling and season the vegetables evenly.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, celery, pepper, onion, apple cider vinegar, sugar):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Black-eyed peafits better
  3. Sesamefits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, celery, pepper, onion, apple cider vinegar, sugar. 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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