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Zucchini and Almond Pasta Salad

And so, we’ve finally fled the coop. We headed out last weekend to a house we’ve rented (with enough spare bedrooms for grandparents to come and catch up with their , because we are , friends, absolutely brilliant) and I’m dispatching from the beach this week. I’ve already had a dinner with friends that involved of broiled cheese, several tastes of local wines, watched the sunset, had my first and second full night’s sleep in weeks, and now with the promise of Dunkin Donuts coffee and freckles in my near future, I have totally arrived.

By smittenkitchen · From Open Recipes · 8 ingredients
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Zucchini and Almond Pasta Salad

Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Zucchini and Almond Pasta Salad

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

603Calories
27 gProtein
32 gFat
54 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Romano Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Wheatnot in our table0
Saladnot in our table0

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. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Almond + pastatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together56 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Pasta + wheattop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together130 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Pasta + olivetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Almond + olivetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,875 recipes

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

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

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (romano cheese, pasta, wheat, olive, lemon, pepper):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Beansfits better
  4. Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against romano cheese, pasta, wheat, olive, lemon, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.