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Inspired by a well-known NYC eatery, this creative technique transforms usually thrown-out external salad greens into a smooth herbaceous “mayonnaise”. It’s an ingenious way to cut down on kitchen waste while making a condiment flavorful and flexible.

Why Repurpose Outer Salad Greens?

Those outer leaves serve as the plant’s natural wrapping, shielding the tender inside leaves. While recycling vegetable trimmings is a fundamental zero-waste practice, finding new uses for them is additionally impactful. Turning surplus ingredients into rich soil avoids dump buildup, where it can release greenhouse gases, a potent environmental issue.

This is rather innovative if you consider about it: food rots and transforms into the ideal soil to nourish more plants, thereby closing this cycle and respecting the process of growth.

However, with more than 30% extra produce being made than required, consuming precious ingredients efficiently is crucial. Minimizing leftovers not only saves cash but also promotes the more sustainable way of living.

This Herb-Infused Emulsion Method

The versatile formula functions with whatever variety of salad greens and seeds. By using one entire egg, one avoid the need to repurpose the extra egg white. The result is a creamy, rich sauce that works beautifully with salads, roasted veggies, seared chicken, noodles, or grains.

Serves two

To Make the Herb Emulsion (Makes about 200 grams)

• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 50 grams outer salad leaves from 2 little gems, rinsed and dried
• 20g shelled roasted pistachios – light-colored seeds such as cashews help keep a vivid green, but whatever seeds can work
• One small entire egg

To Make the Salad

• Two romaine or butter heads, halved lengthways
• Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, to taste
• 1 small bunch soft greens (such as chives), leaves picked whole, stems thinly minced

Instructions

First making the mayonnaise. Melt the fat in a medium pot, toss in the external lettuce greens, place a lid and cook for approximately a minute, stirring a couple times, till they’ve wilted. Transfer this contents into a jug of a immersion processor, include the pistachios and whole egg, then process until smooth. As necessary, incorporate more seeds to get the mayonnaise-like texture. Keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

To prepare the dish, sprinkle each lettuce portion with oil and acid, then season generously. Coat with a tight pattern of the herb emulsion, then top with the herbs. Place on 2 plates and serve right away.