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Inspired by a well-known New York restaurant, the groundbreaking method transforms typically wasted external salad greens into an luxurious green “mayonnaise”. It’s an brilliant way to cut down on leftovers while creating something flavorful and versatile.

Why Use Outer Lettuce Leaves?

These outer greens serve as the plant’s natural packaging, shielding the delicate inside lettuce. Although composting produce trimmings is a basic sustainable practice, discovering creative applications for them is even more impactful. Turning surplus food into fertile compost avoids landfill accumulation, where it can release methane, which is a powerful climate issue.

It’s quite radical if you think about it: food decomposes and transforms into the ideal growing medium to nourish further plants, thus completing the loop and respecting nature’s cycle of life.

Yet, given more than thirty percent extra food being produced compared to needed, using valuable resources efficiently becomes crucial. Reducing waste not only conserves cash but also promotes a increasingly eco-friendly lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused Emulsion Recipe

This versatile recipe works with any type of lettuce and nuts. Through using a whole egg, you eliminate any need to repurpose an extra egg white. This result is a smooth, nutty dressing that pairs beautifully with salads, grilled vegetables, seared poultry, pasta, or rice.

Yields two

For the Herb “Mayonnaise” (Yields approximately 200 grams)

• 100 grams butter
• 50g external salad leaves from 2 romaine or butter lettuce, washed and thoroughly dried
• 20g shelled roasted nuts – light-colored nuts like pine nuts help maintain the vivid color, but whatever nuts will work
• 1 medium whole egg

For the Salad

• 2 little gem lettuces, split longwise
• Extra-virgin oil, to taste
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• One generous bunch soft greens (like parsley), leaves left whole, stems finely chopped

Steps

First making the mayonnaise. Heat the fat in a small pot, toss in the outer salad leaves, place a lid and wilt for about 60 seconds, stirring once or twice, till they have softened. Transfer the mixture into a container of a stick blender, add the pistachios and whole egg, then blend until smooth. As necessary, incorporate extra seeds to get a thick texture. Keep in a airtight container in the fridge for as long as 3 days.

For prepare the dish, drizzle each lettuce half with oil and acid, then season generously. Coat with a tight drizzle of the herb mayonnaise, then scatter with the herbs. Arrange on 2 plates and serve right away.