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Modeled after a well-known New York eatery, the groundbreaking technique transforms often-discarded external salad greens into a luxurious green emulsion. This is an brilliant approach to cut down on food waste while creating a condiment tasty and flexible.

Why Repurpose External Lettuce Greens?

Those outer leaves serve as nature’s natural packaging, guarding the delicate inner lettuce. Although composting vegetable scraps is a basic zero-waste habit, discovering new uses for them is even more impactful. Turning surplus food into rich soil prevents landfill accumulation, where they can release methane, a potent environmental concern.

It’s quite innovative when you consider over it: food rots and becomes the ideal soil to feed more crops, thus closing the loop and respecting the cycle of growth.

Yet, given over 30% extra produce being produced than required, using precious ingredients efficiently becomes essential. Minimizing waste not only conserves cash but also promotes the increasingly eco-friendly lifestyle.

This Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Recipe

This adaptable recipe works with any type of salad greens and seeds. Through incorporating a whole egg, one eliminate the hassle to repurpose an leftover white. This outcome is a smooth, nutty sauce that pairs beautifully with salads, roasted veggies, grilled poultry, noodles, or grains.

Serves 2

For the Herb Emulsion (Yields approximately 200 grams)

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50 grams external lettuce greens from 2 little gems, rinsed and thoroughly dried
• 20g peeled salted nuts – white nuts such as blanched almonds assist maintain the vivid green, but any seeds will do
• 1 small entire egg

For the Side

• 2 romaine or butter heads, halved longwise
• Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
• Fresh lime juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• 1 generous handful soft greens (such as chervil), sprigs left whole, stalks finely chopped

Steps

First making the emulsion. Melt the butter in one small saucepan, toss in the external salad greens, cover and wilt for about 60 seconds, stirring once or twice, until they have softened. Pour the mixture into a container of an stick processor, include the nuts and whole egg, then blend until smooth. If needed, add more seeds to achieve the thick consistency. Keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for as long as three days.

To assemble the salad, sprinkle each lettuce portion with oil and lemon juice, then season liberally. Dress with a zigzag pattern of the green mayonnaise, then scatter with the herbs. Arrange on 2 plates and enjoy immediately.