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Drawing from a popular New York restaurant, the creative method turns often-discarded outer salad greens into an luxurious green “mayonnaise”. It’s a ingenious way to cut down on food waste while making something delicious and adaptable.

Why Use External Lettuce Greens?

Those outer greens are nature’s protective packaging, guarding the tender inside lettuce. Although composting produce trimmings is a fundamental sustainable habit, discovering new applications for these parts is even more beneficial. Turning surplus ingredients into fertile compost avoids dump buildup, where they can emit methane, which is a powerful climate concern.

This is rather innovative when you think about it: produce decomposes and becomes that ideal growing medium to nourish more crops, thereby closing the cycle and respecting nature’s process of life.

Yet, given more than thirty percent surplus food getting produced than needed, using valuable ingredients efficiently is crucial. Minimizing waste not only conserves cash but also supports the more sustainable lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused Emulsion Recipe

This versatile recipe works with whatever variety of lettuce and seeds. By using a entire egg, one eliminate any hassle to repurpose an leftover white. This result is a creamy, nutty sauce that works perfectly with greens, grilled vegetables, seared chicken, noodles, or rice.

Yields 2

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

• 100g butter
• 50g external salad greens of two romaine or butter lettuce, washed and dried
• 20g shelled roasted pistachios – light-colored seeds such as blanched almonds help keep the bright green, though whatever nuts will work
• 1 small whole egg

For the Salad

• 2 romaine or butter heads, halved longwise
• Cold-pressed olive oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, to taste
• 1 generous handful soft herbs (such as parsley), sprigs left intact, stalks thinly chopped

Instructions

First making the emulsion. Heat the butter in one small pot, toss in the external salad greens, place a lid and wilt for approximately 60 seconds, mixing once or twice, till they have wilted. Transfer this mixture into a jug of a immersion blender, include the nuts and egg, then process till creamy. As necessary, add more seeds to achieve a mayonnaise-like consistency. Store in a airtight jar in the fridge for up to three days.

To assemble the salad, drizzle each lettuce portion with olive oil and acid, then season generously. Dress with one zigzag drizzle of the green emulsion, then scatter with the greens. Place on 2 dishes and serve right away.