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Inspired by a well-known NYC eatery, the innovative method transforms typically wasted external salad greens into a velvety green emulsion. This is an ingenious way to minimize food waste while making something tasty and adaptable.

Why Use Outer Lettuce Greens?

These external greens serve as nature’s protective packaging, guarding the delicate inner leaves. While composting vegetable scraps is a basic sustainable habit, discovering new applications for them is even more impactful. Turning surplus food into fertile compost prevents landfill accumulation, where it may release greenhouse gases, which is a potent climate issue.

It’s quite innovative when you think about it: food rots and becomes that perfect soil to nourish more plants, thus closing the loop and honoring nature’s process of life.

However, with more than 30% extra food being produced compared to needed, using precious resources wisely becomes crucial. Reducing leftovers not only saves cash but also supports the increasingly sustainable lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused Emulsion Method

This adaptable formula functions with any type of salad greens and seeds. By using one whole egg, one avoid any hassle to use up an leftover egg white. This outcome is a smooth, rich dressing that pairs beautifully with greens, roasted veggies, seared chicken, noodles, or grains.

Yields 2

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

• 100 grams butter
• 50 grams outer salad greens from 2 romaine or butter lettuce, rinsed and dried
• 20g shelled salted nuts – light-colored seeds such as pine nuts help keep the vivid color, but any seeds will work
• 1 small whole egg

To Make the Side

• 2 little gem lettuces, halved lengthways
• Cold-pressed olive oil, to taste
• Fresh lime juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• One generous handful fresh greens (like chervil), sprigs left whole, stems finely chopped

Steps

First preparing the emulsion. Heat the butter in a medium pot, add the outer lettuce greens, cover and cook for approximately a minute, mixing a couple times, until they’ve softened. Pour this contents into the jug of a immersion blender, add the pistachios and whole egg, then blend until smooth. As necessary, add extra nuts to achieve a mayonnaise-like consistency. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for as long as 3 days.

For prepare the dish, sprinkle each lettuce portion with olive oil and acid, then season liberally. Dress with one tight drizzle of the green emulsion, then scatter with the greens. Place on two dishes and enjoy right away.