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Inspired by an acclaimed NYC eatery, this creative technique converts typically wasted outer lettuce greens into a luxurious green “mayonnaise”. It’s a brilliant approach to cut down on kitchen waste while creating something flavorful and versatile.

Why Use External Lettuce Leaves?

These external greens are nature’s natural packaging, guarding the tender inner lettuce. While recycling produce scraps is a fundamental zero-waste practice, discovering new uses for them is additionally impactful. Turning surplus food into rich soil prevents landfill accumulation, where they can release greenhouse gases, which is a potent environmental issue.

This is quite radical if you think about it: produce rots and becomes the ideal growing medium to feed more plants, thus completing this cycle and honoring the process of life.

However, with over 30% extra produce being made compared to needed, using valuable ingredients efficiently becomes essential. Reducing waste not only saves money but also supports the more sustainable way of living.

The Herb-Infused “Mayonnaise” Recipe

The adaptable recipe functions with whatever type of lettuce and seeds. By using a whole egg, you eliminate the need to repurpose an extra egg white. This result is a creamy, rich dressing that works perfectly with salads, grilled vegetables, seared poultry, pasta, or rice.

Yields 2

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

• 100g unsalted butter
• 50 grams outer lettuce greens of 2 little gems, rinsed and thoroughly dried
• 20g shelled salted pistachios – light-colored seeds like blanched almonds help maintain the bright green, but any nuts will do
• One small entire egg

For the Side

• 2 romaine or butter lettuces, split longwise
• Cold-pressed olive oil, as needed
• Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, to taste
• One generous handful fresh greens (like dill), leaves left intact, stems thinly chopped

Steps

First preparing the emulsion. Heat the fat in one small saucepan, toss in the external lettuce greens, place a lid and wilt for approximately 60 seconds, stirring once or twice, till they’ve wilted. Pour the contents into a jug of an immersion processor, add the pistachios and whole egg, then blend till smooth. If needed, add extra nuts to achieve a mayonnaise-like consistency. Store in an sealed container in the fridge for as long as three days.

To assemble the salad, drizzle each gem portion with olive oil and lemon juice, then salt liberally. Dress with one zigzag pattern of the herb emulsion, then top with the greens. Arrange on 2 plates and enjoy immediately.