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Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Goat Cheese

This is the kind of thing you come up with when you have a one year-old who, like many one year-olds, wishes to eat sweet potatoes with every meal. Sure, the goal is for the kid to eat exactly what the rest of the family is eating for dinner, but there are only so many days in a row we can feign excitement over a side of sweet potatoes and I have only so much heart to deny the kid something he delights in. And so I spent a good part of September and October roasting sweet potatoes, repeating the task enough times that I made two great discoveries.

By smittenkitchen · From Open Recipes · 11 ingredients
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Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Goat Cheese

Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

578Calories
14 gProtein
25 gFat
81 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Goat Cheese1 oz (28g)103
Cherry1 cup (138g)87
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Pecan1 half (4g)20
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By smittenkitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Sweet potato + shallottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

Swap the sweet potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, shallot, celery, parsley, goat cheese, pepper, red wine):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Sweet potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, shallot, celery, parsley, goat cheese, pepper, red wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.