🔗 Share this article

Drawing from a well-known NYC restaurant, the creative method turns usually thrown-out outer salad leaves into an velvety herbaceous “mayonnaise”. It’s a ingenious approach to reduce kitchen waste while making something tasty and versatile.

The Reason Use External Salad Leaves?

Those outer leaves are the plant’s natural wrapping, shielding the delicate inside leaves. While recycling vegetable scraps is a basic sustainable habit, finding creative applications for them is additionally impactful. Turning excess food into fertile soil avoids dump accumulation, where they may release greenhouse gases, a powerful climate issue.

This is rather innovative when you consider over it: food decomposes and transforms into that perfect soil to nourish further crops, thus completing this loop and honoring the cycle of life.

However, with over 30% surplus food getting produced compared to required, consuming valuable ingredients efficiently is crucial. Reducing leftovers not only conserves cash but also promotes a increasingly sustainable way of living.

This Green “Mayonnaise” Method

The adaptable recipe works with any type of salad greens and seeds. By incorporating a whole egg, one eliminate the hassle to repurpose an leftover white. The outcome is a creamy, nutty sauce that pairs beautifully with salads, grilled vegetables, grilled poultry, pasta, or rice.

Serves two

For the Green “Mayonnaise” (Yields approximately 200g)

• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams external lettuce leaves from 2 little gems, rinsed and thoroughly dried
• 20 grams shelled salted nuts – light-colored nuts such as pine nuts assist maintain a bright color, though any nuts will work
• 1 small whole egg

To Make the Salad

• 2 romaine or butter lettuces, split longwise
• Cold-pressed olive oil, to taste
• Fresh lime juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• One generous bunch soft greens (like chives), leaves left intact, stems thinly minced

Instructions

Begin by preparing the emulsion. Heat the butter in one small pot, add the outer lettuce greens, place a lid and wilt for approximately a minute, mixing a couple times, till they have wilted. Transfer the contents into a container of an stick blender, add the nuts and egg, then process till smooth. As necessary, add extra nuts to achieve a thick texture. Store in a airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To prepare the dish, drizzle each lettuce half with olive oil and lemon juice, then salt liberally. Dress with a zigzag pattern of the green emulsion, then scatter with the herbs. Place on 2 plates and serve right away.