Name: Carrot Salad
Yield: 2
Ingredients: Carrots (about 4 medium sized); Almond oil; White balsalmic vinegar (or a mix of two parts red wine vinegar to one part balsamic vinegar); Coarse salt; Freshly-ground pepper; Pine nuts; Fresh greens like matzumi or baby Chinese mustard , or even Boston lettuce (optional); Chives (optional)

Why it works: Mustard and chive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 587 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Carrot Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

Carrots (about 4 medium sized)
Almond oil
White balsalmic vinegar (or a mix of two parts red wine vinegar to one part balsamic vinegar)
Coarse salt
Freshly-ground pepper
Pine nuts
Fresh greens like matzumi or baby Chinese mustard , or even Boston lettuce (optional)
Chives (optional)

Directions

Julienne the carrots (or grate them if julienning is not feasible).
Coat with about 1–2 tablespoons of almond oil.
Sprinkle generously with vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Add a hefty serving of pine nuts.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

360Calories

6 gProtein

34 gFat

13 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 10 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Chinese Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Chive	1 tbsp (3g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + chivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together587 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Almond + pinetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together176 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Pine + chivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together39 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Almond + nutstop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together394 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Carrots: Form the bulk of the salad and supply natural sweetness and crunch.
Almond oil: Adds fat that coats the carrots and carries their flavor.
White balsamic vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the carrots.
Pine nuts: Add richness and a toasty, crunchy contrast to the carrots.

Swap the mustard

The recipe marks mustard as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, almond, vinegar, pepper, pine, nuts, chive):

Spinachfits better
Lettucefits better
Beetrootfits better
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, almond, vinegar, pepper, pine, nuts, chive. 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.