Name: Lettuce, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad, with Lime Juice and Oil
Ingredients: 1 head of lettuce; 1 cucumber; 2 tomatoes; 2 tablespoons lime juice; 2 tablespoons olive oil; coarse sea salt to taste

Why it works: Lettuce and cucumber match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,409 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Lettuce, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad, with Lime Juice and Oil

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

Wash and chop the lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes.

Dress and serve

In a bowl, combine the lime juice and olive oil.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss gently.
Season with coarse sea salt to taste.

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.

Lettuce + cucumbertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,409 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,539 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Lettuce + limetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together408 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,405 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lettuce + olivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,580 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

What each ingredient does

Lettuce: Provides the crisp, leafy base and most of the salad's bulk.
Cucumber: Adds cool, crunchy texture and fresh moisture.
Tomatoes: Add juiciness, mild sweetness and a little acidity.
Lime juice: Adds bright acidity that balances the oil and lifts the vegetables' flavour.
Olive oil: Carries flavour and coats the leaves and vegetables for a smooth mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Dress the salad just before serving. Lime juice and salt draw water out of lettuce and cucumber, so they wilt if dressed too early. Toss gently so the leaves stay crisp and do not bruise.

Swap the lime

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, olive):

Avocadofits better
Cherryfits about as well
Limethe original
Mangofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, cucumber, tomato, olive. 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.

Tomato Salad179 recipes

Chicken Salad623 recipes

Salad Dressing491 recipes

Cold Slaw160 recipes

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Lettuce, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad, with Lime Juice and Oil