Name: Summer Salad
Ingredients: 1 head endive; 1 large lettuce; 2 spring onions; 2 tomatoes; two hard-boiled eggs

Why it works: Endive and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 284 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Summer Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Shred the lettuce, endive, spring onions, tomatoes, and cress.

Assemble and garnish

Place the shredded vegetables in a salad bowl with mayonnaise dressing.
Decorate with slices of hard-boiled egg, tomato, and tufts of cress.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

149Calories

9 gProtein

6 gFat

16 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Lettuce	1 cup shredded (36g)	5
Endive	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.

By T. R. Allinson. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

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.

Endive + lettucetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together284 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Lettuce + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,655 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lettuce + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,562 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Endive + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together214 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Lettuce: Forms the crisp, leafy base that gives the salad its bulk and texture.
Endive: Adds a crunchy texture and a slightly bitter edge that balances the sweeter vegetables.
Tomatoes: Contribute juiciness and a light acidity that brightens the salad.
Spring onions: Add a sharp, fresh aroma and a mild bite.
Eggs: Add richness and a soft, creamy contrast to the crisp greens.