Upcycling External Lettuce Leaves into Creamy Emulsion – An Sustainable Recipe

Modeled after a popular NYC eatery, the creative technique converts usually thrown-out external lettuce greens into an velvety green emulsion. It’s a smart approach to cut down on leftovers while creating something tasty and versatile.

The Reason Repurpose Outer Salad Greens?

These outer greens are nature’s natural packaging, shielding the tender inside lettuce. Although composting vegetable scraps is one fundamental zero-waste practice, finding creative uses for these parts is even more impactful. Converting excess food into fertile soil avoids dump buildup, where it may emit greenhouse gases, a powerful climate issue.

This is quite radical when you think over it: food rots and becomes the ideal growing medium to feed further crops, thus completing this loop and honoring the cycle of growth.

Yet, given more than 30% surplus food getting made compared to needed, using valuable ingredients efficiently becomes crucial. Minimizing leftovers not only conserves money but also supports the increasingly eco-friendly way of living.

The Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Recipe

The versatile recipe functions with any type of lettuce and seeds. Through incorporating a whole egg, one avoid any need to use up an extra egg white. The outcome is an smooth, nutty dressing that works perfectly with greens, grilled vegetables, grilled poultry, noodles, or rice.

Yields two

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

• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams external salad greens of two little gems, washed and thoroughly dried
• 20 grams peeled salted nuts – light-colored nuts like cashews assist keep the vivid color, but any nuts can work
• 1 small whole egg

For the Salad

• Two romaine or butter lettuces, halved longwise
• Extra-virgin oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, as desired
• 1 generous bunch soft greens (such as dill), leaves left intact, stalks thinly minced

Instructions

First making the mayonnaise. Melt the butter in one medium pot, add the external salad leaves, place a lid and wilt for about a minute, stirring a couple times, till they’ve wilted. Pour this contents into the jug of a stick blender, include the pistachios and whole egg, then process till creamy. If needed, incorporate more nuts to get the mayonnaise-like consistency. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for as long as three days.

To assemble the dish, sprinkle each lettuce half with olive oil and acid, then salt liberally. Dress with one tight drizzle of the herb mayonnaise, then scatter with the herbs. Arrange on two dishes and enjoy immediately.