Name: Vegetable Salad
Ingredients: 1 pint cold boiled string beans, cut into 1-inch pieces; 3 cold boiled beets, diced; 3 cold boiled carrots, diced; 1 cup cooked peas; French dressing; Celery for garnish

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

1 pint cold boiled string beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cold boiled beets, diced
3 cold boiled carrots, diced
1 cup cooked peas
French dressing
Celery for garnish

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the string beans, beets, carrots, and peas. Mix with French dressing to taste.
Garnish with celery before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Beans + carrottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,443 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Beans + peastop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together949 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Beans + celerytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,159 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Carrot + peastop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,994 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

String beans: Adds the main bulk and a firm, crisp bite to the salad.
Beets: Add color and a mild, sweet earthiness to the mix.
Carrots: Add sweetness, color and a firm, tender texture.
Peas: Add small, tender pieces that soften slightly and add sweetness.
French dressing: Adds moisture, acidity and fat that coat the vegetables and carry flavor.