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Cumin Chicken & Avocado Salad

A pinch of chilli gives this a nice kick, perfect in the garden with a few Mexican beers

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Why it works: Cumin and avocado match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 415 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep10 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Mix 1 tbsp of the olive oil with the ground cumin and chilli powder in a bowl. Add the chicken breast fillets and turn to coat evenly.

  2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C).

  3. Meanwhile, toss the halved cherry tomatoes, finely chopped red onion and drained kidney beans together in a large bowl.

  4. Rest the cooked chicken on a board for 3 minutes, then slice it thinly.

  5. Tear the Little Gem lettuce leaves into a large serving bowl. Pick the coriander leaves from the pack and add them to the bowl.

  6. Add the tomato, onion and bean mixture to the lettuce and coriander, then scatter the sliced chicken over the top.

  7. Arrange the peeled avocado slices on top of the salad.

  8. Spoon the Caesar dressing over the salad just before serving, and toss gently to combine.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Cumin + avocadotop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together415 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  2. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Coriander + avocadotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,094 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Lettuce + avocadotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together464 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Olive + avocadotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,376 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the cherry tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, cumin, chicken, onion, lettuce, coriander, avocado):

  1. Limebetter flavor fit
  2. Coconutbetter flavor fit
  3. Lemonbetter flavor fit
  4. Cherry tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, cumin, chicken, onion, lettuce, coriander, avocado. 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).