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Good Old French Bean Salad

I had this salad in a bistro in France and it was fantastic. You know, twangy and mustardy and so nice to eat as a starter before the main course arrived. It reminded me that sometimes cooking rules should be broken. We're told that beans should only be cooked until they're al dente, but I think we should cook them for a bit longer. I'd rather run my nails down a blackboard than eat a squeaky al dente green bean! So here's a recipe for properly cooked beans! Keep your eyes open for different colour beans – green, yellow or black – as a mixture will make it even more interesting. And when preparing them, leave the wispy ends on as they look so nice.

By jamieoliver · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Good Old French Bean Salad

Why it works: Shallot and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 405 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Good Old French Bean 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)

144Calories
1 gProtein
14 gFat
5 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Capers1 tbsp (9g) drained2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
French Beannot in our table0
Chervilnot 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 jamieoliver. 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 + caperstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together405 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Mustard + caperstop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together624 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Mustard + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together859 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Olive + caperstop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,688 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Beans + mustardtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

Swap the capers

The recipe marks capers as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, mustard, white wine, vinegar, olive, pepper, shallot):

  1. Capersthe original
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. Thymefits less well
  4. Garlicfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, mustard, white wine, vinegar, olive, pepper, shallot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.