Name: Couscous with Carrots, Walnuts, and Raisins
Ingredients: 1 C couscous (try whole-wheat couscous); 1 tsp olive oil; 2 Tbsp walnuts, coarsely chopped; ¼ tsp salt; ⅛ tsp black pepper; ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon; 1⅓ C water; 2 Tbsp raisins; ½ C carrots, rinsed, peeled, and shredded or thinly sliced; cut in half

Why it works: Wheat and walnut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 246 recipes. Both carry 1-hexanal, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Couscous with Carrots, Walnuts, and Raisins

Ingredients

1 C couscous (try whole-wheat couscous)
1 tsp olive oil
2 Tbsp walnuts, coarsely chopped
¼ tsp salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
1⅓ C water
2 Tbsp raisins
½ C carrots, rinsed, peeled, and shredded or thinly sliced; cut in half

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

420Calories

8 gProtein

17 gFat

63 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 11 ingredients. The other 3 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
Couscous	1 cup cooked (157g)	176
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0
Pie	not in our table	0
Water	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.

Wheat + walnuttop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together246 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
Wheat + olivetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,100 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,087 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Wheat + carrottop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together231 recipes

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

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

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, olive, walnut, pepper, pumpkin, carrot):

Avocadofits better
Cherryfits better
Limefits better
Raisinthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, olive, walnut, pepper, pumpkin, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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