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Modeled after a popular NYC eatery, this creative technique converts typically wasted external salad leaves into an velvety green emulsion. This is a smart approach to cut down on leftovers while creating a condiment flavorful and versatile.

Why Use Outer Salad Leaves?

These outer greens are nature’s natural packaging, guarding the tender inside lettuce. While recycling produce scraps is one fundamental sustainable habit, finding new applications for these parts is even more impactful. Converting surplus ingredients into rich soil avoids landfill accumulation, where they can release greenhouse gases, which is a powerful climate concern.

This is quite innovative when you consider over it: food rots and transforms into the ideal growing medium to nourish more plants, thus closing this cycle and respecting nature’s cycle of life.

Yet, given over 30% extra produce getting made compared to needed, consuming precious ingredients wisely becomes crucial. Minimizing leftovers not only conserves cash but also promotes the more eco-friendly way of living.

This Green “Mayonnaise” Recipe

The versatile recipe works with any variety of salad greens and seeds. By incorporating a entire egg, one eliminate any need to repurpose the extra white. This result is a creamy, nutty dressing that works perfectly with salads, roasted veggies, grilled chicken, noodles, or grains.

Yields 2

For the Green Emulsion (Yields about 200g)

• 100g butter
• 50 grams external lettuce leaves of two romaine or butter lettuce, rinsed and thoroughly dried
• 20g peeled salted pistachios – light-colored nuts like pine nuts help maintain a bright green, but any seeds can do
• 1 medium entire egg

To Make the Side

• 2 romaine or butter heads, split longwise
• Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
• Fresh lime juice or white-wine vinegar, to taste
• 1 generous handful fresh herbs (such as chives), sprigs picked whole, stems finely chopped

Steps

Begin by preparing the emulsion. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan, add the external salad leaves, place a lid and cook for about 60 seconds, stirring a couple times, till they’ve softened. Pour the mixture into the container of a stick processor, include the pistachios and whole egg, then process till smooth. If needed, incorporate more nuts to achieve a thick consistency. Keep in a airtight container in the fridge for as long as three days.

To assemble the salad, drizzle each lettuce half with oil and lemon juice, then season liberally. Dress with one tight pattern of the herb mayonnaise, then scatter with the herbs. Place on 2 plates and serve right away.