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Mediterranean Raw Squash Pasta Salad

This pasta salad with raw squash and bold Greek flavors is a simple, light summer dish. Thanks to the plethora of vegetables, whole grains and beans, it’s a complete meal in itself! Pack up a bowlful for a weekday lunch or serve with a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio for dinner.

By cookieandkate · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Mediterranean Raw Squash Pasta Salad

Why it works: Garlic and chickpea match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 813 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Mediterranean Raw Squash Pasta Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

Directions

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

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1294Calories
37 gProtein
61 gFat
161 gCarbs

Counts 18 of 20 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 18 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Couscous1 cup cooked (157g)176
Chickpea1/2 cup canned (120g) drained134
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Feta Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Cherry1 cup (138g)87
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Olive1 large (4g)4
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Wheatnot in our table0
Pumpkinnot 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 cookieandkate. 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. Garlic + chickpeatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together813 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Shallot + chickpeatop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together21 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Olive + chickpeatop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl butyrate (fruity, apple).

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

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

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, olive, lemon, garlic, shallot, pepper, chickpea):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

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