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Modeled after a popular NYC restaurant, the innovative technique transforms typically wasted external lettuce leaves into an smooth herbaceous “mayonnaise”. It’s a ingenious way to minimize food waste while producing a condiment tasty and flexible.

The Reason Repurpose Outer Lettuce Leaves?

These outer greens serve as the plant’s protective packaging, shielding the tender inner lettuce. Although composting produce trimmings is one fundamental sustainable practice, finding new applications for these parts is even more beneficial. Turning excess ingredients into fertile compost prevents dump accumulation, where it may emit greenhouse gases, which is a powerful climate concern.

It’s rather innovative if you think about it: food rots and becomes the perfect soil to feed more plants, thus completing this loop and respecting nature’s process of life.

Yet, given more than 30% extra food getting made than needed, consuming precious resources wisely is essential. Reducing leftovers not only saves money but also supports a increasingly eco-friendly way of living.

This Herb-Infused Emulsion Method

This adaptable formula functions with any type of salad greens and seeds. Through incorporating one whole egg, one avoid the hassle to use up the leftover egg white. The outcome is an creamy, rich sauce that works perfectly with salads, grilled vegetables, seared chicken, pasta, or grains.

Yields 2

For the Herb Emulsion (Yields approximately 200g)

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50g external salad greens of two romaine or butter lettuce, washed and dried
• 20 grams peeled salted pistachios – light-colored nuts such as blanched almonds assist keep the bright green, but whatever nuts can do
• One small entire egg

For the Salad

• Two romaine or butter lettuces, halved lengthways
• Cold-pressed oil, to taste
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, to taste
• 1 small bunch soft greens (such as dill), sprigs left intact, stalks thinly chopped

Steps

First preparing the mayonnaise. Heat the butter in one medium pot, add the outer lettuce leaves, cover and wilt for approximately a minute, mixing a couple times, until they’ve softened. Transfer the mixture into the container of an immersion processor, include the nuts and whole egg, then process until creamy. If needed, incorporate extra nuts to achieve the mayonnaise-like texture. Keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to three days.

To prepare the salad, drizzle each lettuce portion with olive oil and acid, then season generously. Dress with a zigzag drizzle of the herb mayonnaise, then top with the herbs. Arrange on 2 dishes and enjoy right away.