Name: Roasted Acorn Squash Salad
Yield: serves 4 to 6
Ingredients: 3 pounds acorn squash (1 large or 2 small ones); 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1/8 teaspoon salt, or more to taste; 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted in the oven or on a dry skillet; 1 tablespoon or so Reduced Balsamic Vinegar (recipe follows), thickened for drizzling; 2 tablespoons or more crumbled cheese (optional), such as aged goat cheese, drained fresh ricotta, cottage cheese, or ricotta salata

Why it works: Olive and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,875 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Roasted Acorn Squash Salad

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

3 pounds acorn squash (1 large or 2 small ones)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted in the oven or on a dry skillet
1 tablespoon or so Reduced Balsamic Vinegar (recipe follows), thickened for drizzling
2 tablespoons or more crumbled cheese (optional), such as aged goat cheese, drained fresh ricotta, cottage cheese, or ricotta salata

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

791Calories

46 gProtein

56 gFat

17 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Ricotta	1/2 cup (124g) part-skim	174
Ricotta Cheese	1/2 cup (124g) part-skim	174
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Goat Cheese	1 oz (28g)	103
Cottage Cheese	1/2 cup (113g) 2%	98
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Vinegar	1 tbsp (15ml) distilled	3
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pumpkin	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. 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.

Olive + almondtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Acorn + olivetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together25 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Acorn + almondtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,297 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Olive + cheesetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,802 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

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

Swap the acorn

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, almond, vinegar, cheese):

Sesamefits better
Pistachiofits better
Chickpeafits better
Acornthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, almond, vinegar, cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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