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Inspired by a well-known New York eatery, this groundbreaking method turns often-discarded external lettuce leaves into a luxurious herbaceous “mayonnaise”. It’s a ingenious way to reduce food waste while making something delicious and versatile.

Why Use External Lettuce Leaves?

These external greens serve as nature’s protective packaging, shielding the delicate inside lettuce. Although recycling produce scraps is one basic sustainable practice, finding new applications for them is additionally beneficial. Converting surplus food into rich compost avoids landfill accumulation, where they can release greenhouse gases, a powerful climate concern.

This is rather innovative when you think over it: food rots and becomes the perfect soil to nourish more crops, thus completing the loop and respecting nature’s process of growth.

However, given over 30% extra produce being produced than required, consuming valuable ingredients wisely is essential. Minimizing leftovers not only conserves cash but also supports a increasingly eco-friendly way of living.

This Green Emulsion Method

The adaptable formula functions with any variety of lettuce and seeds. By incorporating one entire egg, one avoid any need to repurpose the extra white. This result is a creamy, rich sauce that works perfectly with greens, roasted vegetables, seared poultry, noodles, or grains.

Serves 2

For the Green “Mayonnaise” (Yields about 200 grams)

• 100 grams butter
• 50 grams outer lettuce leaves of two romaine or butter lettuce, washed and dried
• 20g shelled roasted pistachios – light-colored seeds like pine nuts help maintain a vivid color, but whatever nuts can do
• 1 small entire egg

For the Side

• 2 little gem lettuces, split longwise
• Extra-virgin oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, as desired
• 1 small handful soft herbs (such as chives), sprigs left whole, stems thinly minced

Instructions

First making the mayonnaise. Melt the fat in a small pot, toss in the external lettuce greens, cover and cook for about 60 seconds, stirring once or twice, till they’ve softened. Pour the mixture into the container of a stick processor, add the nuts and whole egg, then process until smooth. As necessary, add extra nuts to achieve a mayonnaise-like consistency. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

For assemble the dish, drizzle each gem portion with oil and lemon juice, then salt liberally. Coat with one zigzag drizzle of the herb emulsion, then top with the greens. Arrange on two dishes and serve right away.