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Modeled after a well-known NYC restaurant, the creative technique transforms typically wasted outer salad leaves into an luxurious green emulsion. It’s an ingenious way to minimize leftovers while producing something flavorful and flexible.

The Reason Use Outer Salad Leaves?

These external leaves serve as the plant’s protective wrapping, shielding the delicate inner lettuce. While recycling produce scraps is one basic zero-waste habit, finding creative uses for them is even more impactful. Converting excess food into rich soil prevents dump buildup, where they can release greenhouse gases, a powerful climate concern.

It’s quite radical if you think about it: food rots and transforms into that perfect growing medium to feed further crops, thus completing the cycle and honoring nature’s process of life.

However, given more than thirty percent surplus food getting made than required, using valuable resources wisely becomes essential. Minimizing leftovers not only saves money but also supports the increasingly sustainable lifestyle.

This Green “Mayonnaise” Recipe

This adaptable formula functions with any type of lettuce and nuts. Through incorporating a whole egg, one eliminate any hassle to use up an extra white. This result is a creamy, nutty sauce that pairs beautifully with greens, roasted veggies, seared poultry, pasta, or rice.

Serves two

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

• 100 grams butter
• 50 grams outer lettuce leaves of 2 romaine or butter lettuce, washed and dried
• 20g peeled salted pistachios – white nuts such as blanched almonds help maintain a vivid green, though whatever nuts will do
• One medium entire egg

To Make the Side

• Two little gem lettuces, split lengthways
• Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, to taste
• One small bunch soft greens (such as chives), sprigs picked whole, stems thinly chopped

Steps

Begin by preparing the mayonnaise. Melt the fat in one medium pot, toss in the external salad greens, place a lid and cook for about a minute, stirring once or twice, till they’ve wilted. Transfer the mixture into a jug of an stick blender, add the nuts and whole egg, then process until smooth. If needed, add more seeds to achieve a mayonnaise-like texture. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

For assemble the dish, sprinkle each gem half with oil and acid, then salt generously. Coat with one zigzag pattern of the herb mayonnaise, then top with the greens. Place on two plates and enjoy immediately.