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Drawing from an acclaimed New York restaurant, this creative technique transforms often-discarded external salad leaves into an luxurious green “mayonnaise”. This is an ingenious approach to cut down on kitchen waste while creating something flavorful and adaptable.

Why Use Outer Salad Greens?

Those outer leaves serve as the plant’s protective wrapping, shielding the delicate inner leaves. Although composting produce trimmings is one basic zero-waste practice, discovering creative applications for these parts is additionally beneficial. Turning surplus ingredients into fertile soil avoids dump buildup, where they can release greenhouse gases, which is a potent climate concern.

It’s rather radical when you think over it: food rots and becomes the perfect growing medium to feed more plants, thus completing this loop and honoring the cycle of life.

However, with over thirty percent extra produce getting made than needed, consuming precious resources efficiently becomes crucial. Reducing waste not only saves money but also supports a increasingly sustainable way of living.

This Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Recipe

The adaptable recipe functions with any type of salad greens and seeds. Through incorporating a entire egg, you eliminate the need to repurpose the extra egg white. The outcome is a creamy, rich sauce that pairs perfectly with salads, roasted vegetables, seared chicken, noodles, or rice.

Yields 2

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

• 100 grams butter
• 50g outer lettuce greens of two little gems, rinsed and dried
• 20g peeled salted nuts – light-colored nuts like blanched almonds help keep the bright green, though whatever nuts can work
• One medium whole egg

For the Salad

• 2 romaine or butter heads, split longwise
• Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, to taste
• 1 generous handful fresh greens (like parsley), leaves left whole, stalks finely minced

Instructions

Begin by making the emulsion. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, add the outer salad greens, cover and wilt for approximately a minute, stirring once or twice, until they’ve wilted. Transfer the mixture into a container of a stick blender, add the nuts and egg, then blend till smooth. As necessary, incorporate more nuts to achieve a thick texture. Keep in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To prepare the salad, sprinkle each gem portion with olive oil and acid, then salt generously. Coat with one tight drizzle of the herb emulsion, then top with the herbs. Arrange on two plates and enjoy right away.