Drawing from a well-known NYC restaurant, the groundbreaking method turns often-discarded external salad greens into a smooth herbaceous “mayonnaise”. This is an ingenious way to reduce food waste while making a condiment tasty and adaptable.
Why Use External Salad Leaves?
These external greens are nature’s natural packaging, guarding the tender inside lettuce. Although composting produce trimmings is a fundamental zero-waste practice, finding creative applications for these parts is even more beneficial. Turning excess food into fertile soil prevents dump accumulation, where they may release methane, which is a potent environmental concern.
This is rather innovative when you think over it: produce decomposes and becomes the perfect soil to feed more crops, thus closing this loop and honoring the cycle of growth.
Yet, with more than thirty percent extra food being made than needed, using valuable resources efficiently is essential. Reducing waste not only saves cash but also supports a increasingly sustainable way of living.
This Herb-Infused Emulsion Method
This adaptable recipe works with whatever variety of lettuce and nuts. Through using one whole egg, one eliminate any need to repurpose an extra egg white. The result is a smooth, rich sauce that works beautifully with salads, grilled veggies, seared chicken, pasta, or grains.
Yields two
For the Herb “Mayonnaise” (Makes approximately 200 grams)
- 100g butter
- 50 grams external lettuce greens from 2 romaine or butter lettuce, rinsed and thoroughly dried
- 20 grams peeled salted nuts – white nuts like pine nuts help maintain a vivid green, though whatever seeds can do
- One small whole egg
To Make the Salad
- Two little gem lettuces, split longwise
- Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
- Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, to taste
- 1 generous bunch soft greens (such as parsley), leaves picked intact, stalks finely minced
Steps
First making the mayonnaise. Melt the fat in a medium saucepan, toss in the external salad greens, place a lid and wilt for approximately a minute, mixing once or twice, until they have wilted. Transfer the mixture into a container of a stick processor, add the pistachios and whole egg, then process till creamy. As necessary, add extra seeds to achieve a mayonnaise-like texture. Store in a sealed container in the fridge for as long as three days.
For assemble the salad, drizzle each gem half with olive oil and acid, then salt liberally. Dress with a zigzag drizzle of the herb mayonnaise, then scatter with the herbs. Arrange on 2 dishes and serve right away.
