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Modeled after a well-known New York eatery, the innovative technique converts typically wasted external lettuce greens into a velvety herbaceous emulsion. It’s a smart way to cut down on kitchen waste while making something flavorful and adaptable.

Why Use External Lettuce Leaves?

These outer leaves are nature’s natural packaging, guarding the delicate inside leaves. While recycling vegetable trimmings is a basic zero-waste practice, discovering new applications for them is even more impactful. Turning excess ingredients into rich soil avoids landfill accumulation, where they can emit greenhouse gases, which is a powerful environmental issue.

This is quite innovative when you think about it: produce rots and transforms into that ideal soil to feed more plants, thereby completing this cycle and honoring the cycle of life.

Yet, with over thirty percent surplus produce being produced than required, consuming valuable ingredients wisely becomes crucial. Reducing leftovers not only conserves money but also promotes a more eco-friendly way of living.

The Green Emulsion Recipe

The versatile formula works with whatever type of salad greens and seeds. Through using one entire egg, one eliminate the need to use up an leftover egg white. This outcome is a creamy, rich dressing that pairs perfectly with greens, roasted vegetables, grilled poultry, noodles, or rice.

Yields two

For the Green “Mayonnaise” (Yields approximately 200g)

• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams outer salad leaves of 2 romaine or butter lettuce, rinsed and dried
• 20g peeled salted pistachios – white seeds such as pine nuts assist keep the vivid green, but whatever nuts can work
• One medium whole egg

To Make the Salad

• Two little gem heads, split longwise
• Cold-pressed oil, to taste
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, as desired
• One generous bunch soft herbs (like dill), sprigs picked intact, stalks thinly chopped

Steps

First preparing the emulsion. Heat the butter in one small pot, add the outer lettuce leaves, cover and cook for approximately 60 seconds, mixing once or twice, until they’ve wilted. Transfer the mixture into a jug of a immersion processor, add the pistachios and whole egg, then process until smooth. As necessary, incorporate extra nuts to get the thick texture. Store in an sealed jar in the fridge for as long as 3 days.

For assemble the dish, sprinkle each lettuce portion with oil and acid, then season generously. Dress with one tight drizzle of the green emulsion, then scatter with the herbs. Arrange on two plates and serve right away.