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Drawing from an acclaimed NYC restaurant, the creative technique converts often-discarded outer salad greens into a luxurious herbaceous “mayonnaise”. It’s a ingenious approach to cut down on kitchen waste while creating something delicious and adaptable.

Why Repurpose External Lettuce Leaves?

Those external greens serve as the plant’s natural wrapping, guarding the delicate inside lettuce. While composting produce trimmings is a fundamental sustainable practice, discovering new uses for these parts is additionally impactful. Turning excess ingredients into fertile soil avoids landfill accumulation, where they may release methane, which is a powerful environmental concern.

It’s quite innovative if you think over it: produce decomposes and transforms into that perfect soil to feed more crops, thus closing the cycle and respecting nature’s cycle of life.

Yet, with over 30% surplus produce being made than needed, using valuable ingredients wisely is crucial. Reducing leftovers not only saves cash but also supports the more sustainable lifestyle.

This Green Emulsion Method

This versatile recipe works with any type of lettuce and seeds. Through incorporating a entire egg, you avoid the hassle to use up the leftover white. The result is an creamy, nutty sauce that pairs perfectly with salads, grilled veggies, seared poultry, pasta, or rice.

Yields two

For the Herb Emulsion (Makes about 200 grams)

• 100 grams butter
• 50g external salad leaves of two romaine or butter lettuce, rinsed and thoroughly dried
• 20 grams peeled roasted pistachios – white seeds such as pine nuts help maintain the vivid color, but any seeds can do
• One medium entire egg

To Make the Salad

• Two little gem heads, halved lengthways
• Extra-virgin oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, to taste
• One generous bunch fresh greens (such as parsley), sprigs left whole, stems finely chopped

Steps

First making the emulsion. Melt the fat in a small saucepan, toss in the external salad leaves, place a lid and wilt for about a minute, mixing a couple times, until they’ve softened. Transfer this mixture into a jug of a stick blender, add the nuts and egg, then blend till smooth. If needed, incorporate more nuts to get a thick texture. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for as long as three days.

To assemble the dish, drizzle each lettuce half with oil and lemon juice, then season liberally. Dress with one tight pattern of the green emulsion, then top with the herbs. Arrange on 2 plates and enjoy immediately.