Name: Caribbean Pink Beans
Ingredients: 1 lb dried pink beans; 2 medium plantains, finely chopped; 1 large tomato, rinsed and finely chopped; 1 small red bell pepper, rinsed and finely chopped; 1 medium white onion, finely chopped; 1½ Tbsp garlic, minced (about 3 cloves); 1½ tsp salt

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Caribbean Pink Beans

Ingredients

1 lb dried pink beans
2 medium plantains, finely chopped
1 large tomato, rinsed and finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper, rinsed and finely chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1½ Tbsp garlic, minced (about 3 cloves)
1½ tsp salt

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

108Calories

4 gProtein

1 gFat

23 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Bean	not in our table	0
Plantain	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 NHLBI (US).

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.

Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,713 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Beans + garlictop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,935 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, tomato, pepper, onion, garlic):

Cuminfits better
Oreganofits better
Corianderfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, tomato, pepper, onion, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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