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Drawing from a well-known NYC eatery, this groundbreaking method converts usually thrown-out outer salad greens into a smooth herbaceous “mayonnaise”. This is an ingenious way to minimize kitchen waste while making a condiment tasty and flexible.

Why Use Outer Lettuce Greens?

These outer greens serve as the plant’s natural wrapping, shielding the delicate inner leaves. Although composting vegetable trimmings is one basic zero-waste practice, discovering new applications for them is additionally beneficial. Converting excess food into rich compost avoids dump accumulation, where it can release greenhouse gases, which is a potent environmental issue.

It’s quite radical if you consider about it: food decomposes and transforms into that ideal growing medium to nourish more plants, thus completing this loop and respecting the cycle of growth.

Yet, with more than thirty percent surplus food being produced compared to needed, consuming valuable ingredients wisely becomes essential. Reducing waste not only saves cash but also supports the more sustainable lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Method

The versatile formula functions with any variety of salad greens and seeds. Through incorporating one entire egg, one eliminate the hassle to repurpose the extra egg white. This result is a smooth, nutty dressing that pairs perfectly with greens, roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, noodles, or grains.

Yields two

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

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50g external salad leaves from two romaine or butter lettuce, rinsed and dried
• 20 grams peeled salted nuts – white nuts such as cashews assist maintain the vivid green, but any nuts will work
• 1 small entire egg

For the Salad

• 2 little gem lettuces, split lengthways
• Cold-pressed olive oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, to taste
• One generous handful fresh herbs (like parsley), leaves left intact, stalks thinly chopped

Steps

First making the mayonnaise. Heat the butter in one medium saucepan, add the external salad greens, place a lid and wilt for approximately a minute, mixing a couple times, until they have softened. Pour the contents into a container of an stick processor, add the nuts and egg, then process till smooth. As necessary, add extra nuts to get the mayonnaise-like texture. Store in an sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To prepare the dish, drizzle each gem portion with oil and lemon juice, then salt generously. Coat with a zigzag drizzle of the green emulsion, then top with the greens. Arrange on 2 plates and enjoy immediately.