Why it works: Pepper and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and 15,299 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 4Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: tortillas
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the small chopped yellow onion for 4 minutes until soft.
Transfer the cooked onion to a blender with the drained roasted red peppers, 1/4 cup water, garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Measure out 1/2 cup of the sauce for the filling and set the rest aside.
Heat the second tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chopped yellow onion for 5 minutes until soft.
Add the frozen spinach and frozen corn and cook, stirring, for about 6 minutes until the spinach is thawed and the liquid has evaporated.
Stir in the rinsed black beans, green chiles, the reserved 1/2 cup sauce, salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in the feta cheese.
Wrap the corn tortillas in a damp towel and microwave for about 30 seconds until pliable. Spoon filling down the center of each tortilla, roll up, and place seam side down in a baking dish.
Pour the remaining red pepper sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with the shredded Jack cheese. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Dice the avocados and toss with the chopped cilantro and the 1/2 lime juice. Serve the enchiladas topped with the avocado mixture.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pepper + saucetop 17% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,299 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,030 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Pepper + limetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,491 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Garlic + spinachtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).
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Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Pepper and sauce share little aroma chemistry, yet 15,299 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, garlic, lime, olive, sugar, spinach, corn):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Potatobetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, garlic, lime, olive, sugar, spinach, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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