Why it works: Broccoli and asparagus match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 123 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
The recipe
30 servingsIngredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the tri-color pasta, and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain well and rinse under cold water until cool.
While the pasta cooks, add the broccoli florets and asparagus pieces to a separate pot of boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and plunge into ice water, then drain again.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the drained artichoke hearts and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, red wine vinegar, ranch dressing mix, black pepper and salt until smooth.
Squeeze excess liquid from the thawed spinach. In a very large bowl, combine the cooled pasta, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, spinach, parsley, sliced black olives and grated Parmesan.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently until everything is evenly coated.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the flavors blend, then toss again before serving chilled.
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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Broccoli + asparagustop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together123 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Pasta + artichoketop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together99 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Artichoke + spinachtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together192 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Broccoli + spinachtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together302 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Pasta + spinachtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together376 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pasta, olive, broccoli, artichoke, asparagus, spinach, parmesan cheese):
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Capersbetter flavor fit
- Basilbetter flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pasta, olive, broccoli, artichoke, asparagus, spinach, parmesan cheese. 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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