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Inspired by a popular New York eatery, this innovative technique transforms usually thrown-out outer lettuce leaves into a smooth herbaceous emulsion. It’s an smart way to cut down on kitchen waste while making something delicious and adaptable.

Why Repurpose External Salad Leaves?

Those outer leaves serve as the plant’s natural packaging, guarding the delicate inner leaves. Although composting produce trimmings is one fundamental sustainable practice, discovering creative applications for them is additionally beneficial. Turning surplus ingredients into rich soil avoids dump accumulation, where it can release greenhouse gases, a powerful environmental concern.

It’s rather radical when you consider about it: food decomposes and transforms into the perfect soil to nourish more plants, thus closing the cycle and respecting the cycle of growth.

Yet, given over 30% extra food being made than needed, consuming valuable ingredients wisely is crucial. Reducing waste not only saves money but also promotes the increasingly eco-friendly way of living.

This Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Method

The adaptable recipe works with any type of salad greens and seeds. By incorporating a entire egg, one eliminate any need to use up an extra white. The outcome is an smooth, rich dressing that works beautifully with salads, grilled veggies, seared chicken, pasta, or grains.

Yields two

For the Green “Mayonnaise” (Yields about 200 grams)

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50g outer salad greens of 2 little gems, rinsed and dried
• 20g peeled salted nuts – white seeds such as pine nuts help maintain a vivid green, though whatever nuts can work
• 1 medium entire egg

For the Salad

• Two romaine or butter lettuces, halved lengthways
• Cold-pressed oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, to taste
• One generous bunch soft greens (like parsley), sprigs picked intact, stems finely chopped

Instructions

Begin by making the emulsion. Melt the fat in a medium saucepan, add the outer salad leaves, place a lid and wilt for about a minute, stirring once or twice, until they have wilted. Pour this mixture into the jug of a stick blender, add the nuts and whole egg, then blend until smooth. If needed, add more seeds to get the mayonnaise-like texture. Store in an sealed jar in the fridge for as long as 3 days.

For prepare the dish, sprinkle each gem half with oil and acid, then salt liberally. Coat with a tight pattern of the herb emulsion, then top with the greens. Arrange on two dishes and serve immediately.