🔗 Share this article

Inspired by a popular NYC eatery, this innovative method converts often-discarded outer lettuce leaves into a velvety green emulsion. This is a ingenious way to reduce food waste while creating something flavorful and versatile.

Why Repurpose External Lettuce Greens?

These outer leaves serve as the plant’s natural wrapping, shielding the tender inner leaves. While recycling produce scraps is a basic sustainable practice, discovering new uses for them is even more impactful. Converting surplus food into fertile compost avoids landfill buildup, where it may emit methane, which is a powerful climate issue.

This is quite innovative when you consider about it: produce decomposes and becomes the perfect soil to feed further crops, thus completing this loop and respecting the cycle of growth.

Yet, given over 30% extra food getting made compared to required, consuming valuable ingredients efficiently becomes essential. Minimizing leftovers not only conserves money but also promotes a more eco-friendly way of living.

The Green “Mayonnaise” Recipe

The versatile recipe works with any variety of salad greens and nuts. By incorporating one entire egg, one eliminate any hassle to use up the extra white. This result is a creamy, nutty dressing that pairs beautifully with greens, grilled veggies, seared poultry, pasta, or grains.

Serves two

To Make the Green Emulsion (Yields about 200 grams)

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50g external lettuce leaves of two romaine or butter lettuce, rinsed and dried
• 20g shelled salted pistachios – white seeds like pine nuts assist maintain the bright green, though whatever nuts can work
• One small entire egg

For the Salad

• Two romaine or butter heads, split lengthways
• Extra-virgin oil, as needed
• Fresh lime juice or apple cider vinegar, to taste
• 1 generous bunch soft herbs (such as dill), leaves picked whole, stalks thinly minced

Steps

Begin by making the mayonnaise. Heat the fat in a small pot, toss in the external lettuce greens, cover and wilt for about 60 seconds, mixing a couple times, till they have softened. Pour this contents into the container of an stick processor, add the pistachios and whole egg, then blend until smooth. As necessary, add more seeds to get the mayonnaise-like consistency. Keep in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for as long as three days.

For assemble the dish, drizzle each gem half with olive oil and lemon juice, then salt generously. Coat with one zigzag pattern of the herb mayonnaise, then scatter with the greens. Arrange on two plates and serve immediately.