🔗 Share this article

Modeled after an acclaimed NYC eatery, this creative technique turns typically wasted external salad leaves into an smooth green “mayonnaise”. It’s an ingenious approach to reduce kitchen waste while making something tasty and flexible.

The Reason Use External Salad Greens?

These external greens serve as nature’s natural wrapping, shielding the delicate inside leaves. While composting produce scraps is one fundamental sustainable habit, finding creative uses for them is additionally beneficial. Turning surplus ingredients into fertile compost prevents landfill buildup, where it can emit methane, which is a powerful climate concern.

This is rather radical when you consider about it: food rots and transforms into that perfect growing medium to feed further crops, thereby closing this cycle and honoring the process of growth.

Yet, with more than thirty percent surplus food getting produced than needed, consuming valuable resources efficiently is essential. Minimizing waste not only saves cash but also supports a more sustainable lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused Emulsion Method

The adaptable recipe functions with whatever type of lettuce and nuts. Through using one whole egg, you avoid any need to use up an leftover egg white. The result is a creamy, nutty dressing that pairs perfectly with greens, grilled vegetables, seared poultry, pasta, or rice.

Yields 2

To Make the Herb Emulsion (Yields about 200g)

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50 grams external lettuce greens from 2 little gems, rinsed and thoroughly dried
• 20g peeled salted nuts – white nuts like pine nuts help keep the bright green, but any nuts can do
• 1 small entire egg

For the Side

• Two little gem lettuces, split lengthways
• Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
• Fresh lime juice or apple cider vinegar, as desired
• 1 generous bunch soft herbs (such as chervil), sprigs picked intact, stalks finely minced

Instructions

First preparing the mayonnaise. Melt the fat in a small saucepan, toss in the external lettuce leaves, place a lid and cook for approximately a minute, mixing a couple times, till they have softened. Pour this contents into the jug of a immersion blender, add the nuts and whole egg, then blend until creamy. As necessary, incorporate extra nuts to get the mayonnaise-like consistency. Keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for as long as 3 days.

To prepare the salad, sprinkle each lettuce half with olive oil and acid, then season generously. Coat with one tight drizzle of the herb mayonnaise, then top with the greens. Place on 2 dishes and serve right away.