🔗 Share this article

Drawing from a well-known NYC restaurant, the groundbreaking technique turns often-discarded external lettuce leaves into an luxurious green “mayonnaise”. It’s a ingenious way to cut down on leftovers while producing something flavorful and adaptable.

The Reason Repurpose External Lettuce Leaves?

These outer greens serve as nature’s protective packaging, shielding the delicate inside lettuce. Although recycling produce scraps is one basic sustainable habit, finding new uses for these parts is additionally impactful. Turning excess food into fertile soil prevents landfill buildup, where they can emit greenhouse gases, a potent environmental concern.

It’s quite radical when you consider over it: food rots and transforms into that perfect soil to nourish further plants, thereby closing this loop and respecting nature’s cycle of life.

However, given more than 30% extra food getting produced compared to needed, consuming valuable ingredients wisely becomes crucial. Minimizing leftovers not only conserves money but also supports a more eco-friendly way of living.

The Herb-Infused Emulsion Method

The adaptable recipe works with any variety of salad greens and seeds. By using one entire egg, you eliminate the hassle to use up an leftover white. The outcome is a creamy, rich sauce that pairs beautifully with greens, roasted vegetables, seared poultry, noodles, or grains.

Yields two

To Make the Herb “Mayonnaise” (Yields approximately 200g)

• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams outer lettuce greens from 2 romaine or butter lettuce, washed and thoroughly dried
• 20g peeled salted pistachios – light-colored nuts like cashews help maintain the vivid green, but whatever nuts will do
• One medium whole egg

For the Salad

• 2 little gem lettuces, halved lengthways
• Cold-pressed olive oil, to taste
• Fresh lime juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• 1 generous bunch fresh greens (like chives), leaves picked intact, stems finely minced

Steps

First making the mayonnaise. Heat the fat in one small saucepan, toss in the external lettuce greens, place a lid and wilt for approximately 60 seconds, stirring once or twice, until they’ve wilted. Transfer the contents into a container of an stick blender, add the nuts and egg, then blend until smooth. If needed, add more nuts to achieve a thick texture. Store in an sealed jar in the fridge for up to three days.

For prepare the dish, sprinkle each lettuce half with olive oil and lemon juice, then season generously. Dress with a zigzag pattern of the green emulsion, then top with the herbs. Place on two plates and enjoy immediately.