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Inspired by an acclaimed NYC restaurant, this creative technique transforms typically wasted outer lettuce leaves into an luxurious green “mayonnaise”. It’s a brilliant way to minimize food waste while creating a condiment flavorful and versatile.

Why Use Outer Salad Greens?

Those external greens are the plant’s natural packaging, shielding the delicate inside leaves. Although recycling vegetable scraps is a basic sustainable practice, discovering new uses for these parts is additionally beneficial. Turning excess ingredients into rich compost prevents landfill buildup, where it may release greenhouse gases, a potent climate concern.

It’s quite innovative when you think over it: food decomposes and becomes that ideal growing medium to feed further plants, thereby closing the loop and respecting nature’s cycle of growth.

Yet, with over 30% surplus food getting produced compared to needed, using precious resources wisely becomes crucial. Reducing waste not only conserves money but also supports a increasingly sustainable lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Recipe

The versatile recipe works with whatever variety of lettuce and nuts. By using one whole egg, you avoid the need to use up the extra white. The result is a smooth, nutty dressing that pairs perfectly with salads, grilled vegetables, grilled poultry, pasta, or grains.

Yields two

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

• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams outer salad leaves from two romaine or butter lettuce, washed and dried
• 20g peeled salted nuts – white seeds like cashews help maintain the bright green, but whatever seeds can work
• 1 medium entire egg

To Make the Side

• 2 romaine or butter lettuces, halved longwise
• Cold-pressed oil, as needed
• Fresh lime juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• 1 generous handful soft herbs (such as chives), leaves left whole, stalks thinly chopped

Steps

First preparing the emulsion. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, toss in the external lettuce greens, cover and wilt for about a minute, stirring a couple times, till they have wilted. Transfer this mixture into a container of a immersion blender, add the nuts and whole egg, then process until smooth. If needed, add extra seeds to get a thick texture. Store in an sealed container in the refrigerator for as long as 3 days.

To assemble the dish, drizzle each gem half with oil and acid, then salt generously. Coat with one tight drizzle of the green mayonnaise, then top with the greens. Arrange on two dishes and serve immediately.