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Modeled after a popular New York restaurant, this creative method turns typically wasted external salad greens into a smooth green emulsion. It’s a brilliant approach to reduce leftovers while creating a condiment tasty and flexible.

The Reason Use External Salad Leaves?

These external greens are the plant’s protective packaging, guarding the tender inner lettuce. Although composting produce scraps is one basic zero-waste habit, discovering new uses for these parts is even more impactful. Converting surplus ingredients into fertile compost avoids dump accumulation, where it can emit greenhouse gases, which is a powerful climate issue.

This is quite innovative if you think over it: produce decomposes and transforms into that ideal growing medium to nourish more plants, thereby completing the cycle and honoring nature’s cycle of life.

Yet, given more than thirty percent surplus food getting made compared to required, consuming precious resources efficiently is essential. Minimizing waste not only conserves money but also supports the increasingly sustainable lifestyle.

The Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Method

This adaptable formula functions with whatever variety of salad greens and seeds. By incorporating one whole egg, one eliminate the need to use up the extra egg white. The result is a smooth, nutty dressing that works beautifully with salads, grilled veggies, seared chicken, noodles, or rice.

Serves 2

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

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50g outer salad leaves from two little gems, washed and dried
• 20 grams shelled roasted nuts – white seeds such as blanched almonds help keep a vivid color, but any seeds can do
• One medium whole egg

For the Side

• Two romaine or butter lettuces, halved lengthways
• Cold-pressed olive oil, to taste
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, as desired
• One generous bunch soft greens (like parsley), leaves left intact, stems thinly minced

Instructions

First preparing the emulsion. Heat the fat in a small saucepan, add the external salad greens, place a lid and cook for approximately a minute, mixing once or twice, until they have wilted. Pour this contents into a jug of an stick processor, include the nuts and whole egg, then process until creamy. If needed, incorporate extra seeds to get the mayonnaise-like consistency. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for as long as 3 days.

To prepare the salad, drizzle each gem portion with oil and acid, then salt liberally. Dress with one tight drizzle of the green mayonnaise, then top with the greens. Arrange on two dishes and enjoy right away.