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Inspired by a well-known New York restaurant, the groundbreaking method turns often-discarded outer salad leaves into an smooth green “mayonnaise”. This is a smart approach to cut down on food waste while creating something tasty and flexible.

The Reason Use External Lettuce Leaves?

These external greens are nature’s protective wrapping, guarding the delicate inner lettuce. Although composting produce trimmings is a fundamental zero-waste practice, discovering new uses for these parts is additionally impactful. Converting surplus food into rich soil avoids dump buildup, where they can release methane, which is a potent climate concern.

This is quite radical if you consider over it: food rots and transforms into that ideal growing medium to feed more plants, thus completing this loop and respecting nature’s process of growth.

Yet, with more than 30% extra food being made than needed, consuming valuable resources efficiently becomes crucial. Minimizing leftovers not only conserves money but also supports the increasingly sustainable way of living.

This Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Recipe

This versatile formula functions with any variety of salad greens and nuts. Through using a entire egg, you eliminate any need to repurpose the leftover white. The result is an creamy, rich sauce that works perfectly with greens, roasted veggies, seared poultry, noodles, or rice.

Yields 2

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

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50 grams external salad greens from two little gems, rinsed and dried
• 20g shelled roasted nuts – light-colored nuts like blanched almonds help keep a vivid green, though any nuts will work
• One small whole egg

For the Salad

• 2 little gem lettuces, halved lengthways
• Extra-virgin oil, as needed
• Fresh lime juice or apple cider vinegar, as desired
• 1 small handful soft greens (like chives), sprigs left whole, stems finely chopped

Instructions

First making the emulsion. Heat the butter in a medium pot, toss in the outer lettuce greens, cover and wilt for about a minute, mixing once or twice, until they’ve wilted. Transfer this mixture into a jug of a immersion processor, add the nuts and egg, then process till smooth. If needed, incorporate extra nuts to get a mayonnaise-like consistency. Store in a airtight jar in the fridge for as long as 3 days.

To prepare the salad, drizzle each lettuce portion with oil and lemon juice, then season liberally. Coat with one tight pattern of the green mayonnaise, then top with the greens. Place on 2 dishes and serve right away.