🔗 Share this article

Inspired by a popular NYC eatery, the innovative method turns usually thrown-out external salad leaves into a smooth green emulsion. It’s an ingenious way to cut down on food waste while making a condiment flavorful and flexible.

The Reason Repurpose External Lettuce Leaves?

Those external leaves are the plant’s natural packaging, guarding the delicate inside leaves. Although composting vegetable scraps is a fundamental sustainable practice, discovering creative uses for these parts is even more beneficial. Converting excess food into fertile soil avoids dump accumulation, where they may release methane, which is a powerful environmental issue.

This is rather innovative if you consider about it: produce rots and becomes that perfect growing medium to nourish further plants, thus completing this cycle and honoring the cycle of life.

However, with over thirty percent extra food being produced than needed, using valuable resources efficiently becomes essential. Minimizing waste not only saves cash but also promotes a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Recipe

This adaptable recipe functions with any type of salad greens and seeds. Through using one whole egg, one eliminate any hassle to repurpose an extra white. The outcome is a creamy, nutty sauce that pairs beautifully with salads, roasted veggies, seared poultry, noodles, or rice.

Serves 2

To Make the Herb “Mayonnaise” (Yields approximately 200g)

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50 grams external salad greens of 2 little gems, rinsed and dried
• 20g peeled salted nuts – light-colored seeds like pine nuts help maintain the vivid color, but whatever seeds can work
• One small entire egg

For the Side

• 2 little gem lettuces, halved lengthways
• Cold-pressed oil, to taste
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• 1 small handful soft greens (like chervil), leaves picked intact, stalks thinly chopped

Instructions

First preparing the emulsion. Heat the butter in a small saucepan, add the external salad greens, place a lid and cook for about a minute, mixing a couple times, until they have softened. Transfer this mixture into the jug of an stick blender, include the nuts and egg, then process until creamy. As necessary, incorporate extra nuts to get the thick consistency. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

For assemble the salad, drizzle each lettuce portion with olive oil and lemon juice, then season liberally. Dress with a tight drizzle of the herb emulsion, then scatter with the herbs. Arrange on two dishes and serve immediately.