Repurposing External Salad Greens into Creamy Mayonnaise – An Sustainable Recipe

Inspired by a well-known New York eatery, this groundbreaking technique converts typically wasted external salad leaves into a smooth herbaceous emulsion. It’s a smart approach to reduce leftovers while creating a condiment flavorful and flexible.

The Reason Use External Lettuce Leaves?

Those outer greens are nature’s protective packaging, guarding the delicate inner lettuce. Although composting vegetable scraps is one fundamental sustainable habit, finding creative uses for these parts is even more impactful. Converting surplus ingredients into fertile soil prevents landfill accumulation, where it may release greenhouse gases, a powerful climate issue.

It’s rather innovative if you think about it: produce decomposes and transforms into the ideal growing medium to feed further crops, thereby closing the cycle and honoring nature’s cycle of growth.

However, given more than 30% extra food getting made than required, consuming valuable ingredients wisely becomes crucial. Reducing leftovers not only conserves money but also supports the increasingly eco-friendly lifestyle.

This Herb-Infused Emulsion Recipe

The adaptable recipe works with any variety of lettuce and nuts. By incorporating a whole egg, you eliminate any need to use up an leftover egg white. The result is a creamy, rich sauce that pairs perfectly with salads, grilled vegetables, grilled poultry, pasta, or rice.

Serves two

For the Herb Emulsion (Yields about 200 grams)

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50 grams external salad leaves from 2 little gems, washed and thoroughly dried
• 20 grams peeled roasted nuts – white nuts such as pine nuts assist keep the vivid color, though any seeds will do
• 1 medium entire egg

For the Salad

• Two little gem lettuces, split lengthways
• Cold-pressed oil, to taste
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• One small handful soft greens (like parsley), sprigs left intact, stems finely chopped

Instructions

Begin by preparing the emulsion. Heat the fat in a medium saucepan, toss in the outer salad leaves, cover and cook for about a minute, stirring a couple times, till they have wilted. Pour the contents into the container of a stick processor, include the nuts and egg, then blend till smooth. If needed, incorporate more seeds to get a mayonnaise-like texture. Store in a airtight jar in the fridge for as long as three days.

To prepare the dish, drizzle each lettuce half with oil and lemon juice, then salt generously. Dress with one zigzag pattern of the herb emulsion, then top with the herbs. Arrange on 2 dishes and serve immediately.