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Chicken Pecan Salad

"The combination of sweet and spicy pecans and sweet berries in this chicken salad makes it a taste sensation! I have given tins of the pecans alone as gifts at Christmas time; they are delicious. The berries listed are suggestions; substitute whatever kinds you fancy, in whatever quantities! Makes a beautiful summer dinner."

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Why it works: Sugar and cherry tomato work together. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and 6 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

6 servings
Prep15 min
Cook30 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, tree nuts, soy, fish (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.

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C). In a bowl, toss the chopped pecans with the melted margarine, brown sugar, hot red pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce and the pinch of salt until coated.

  2. Spread the coated pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, stirring once halfway, until fragrant and toasted. Set aside to cool.

  3. Rub the chicken breasts all over with the olive oil and Greek seasoning. Place on a second baking sheet and bake for 18 to 20 minutes until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C).

  4. Rest the chicken for 5 minutes, then slice it thinly.

  5. While the chicken cooks, whisk the honey mustard dressing with the lemon juice in a small bowl and refrigerate until serving.

  6. In a large bowl, combine the torn romaine, cherry tomato halves, hulled and halved strawberries, halved grapes, raspberries and blueberries.

  7. Add the sliced chicken and cooled pecans to the greens. Drizzle with the dressing, toss gently and serve right away.

By allrecipes. 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. Sugar + cherry tomatotop 26% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together6 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Pepper + lemontop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together27,039 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Chicken + olivetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together10,796 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid hexyl ester (sweet, green).

  4. Olive + lettucetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,400 recipes

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

  5. Lemon + olivetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together10,849 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the lettuce

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, sauce, sugar, lemon, pecans, chicken, olive):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Potatobetter flavor fit
  4. Lettucethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sauce, sugar, lemon, pecans, chicken, olive. 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).