Upcycling Outer Lettuce Leaves into Creamy Mayonnaise – An Sustainable Recipe
Inspired by a well-known New York eatery, the groundbreaking method turns often-discarded outer salad greens into a velvety herbaceous “mayonnaise”. It’s a ingenious way to reduce leftovers while producing something flavorful and flexible.
The Reason Repurpose Outer Lettuce Leaves?
These external leaves are nature’s natural packaging, guarding the delicate inside lettuce. Although composting produce trimmings is one fundamental zero-waste habit, finding new uses for them is even more impactful. Turning surplus food into fertile compost prevents landfill accumulation, where it can release greenhouse gases, which is a powerful climate issue.
This is quite innovative when you consider about it: food decomposes and transforms into the ideal growing medium to nourish more crops, thus closing the loop and respecting nature’s process of life.
Yet, given over 30% extra food getting produced than needed, consuming valuable resources efficiently is essential. Reducing leftovers not only conserves money but also promotes the more sustainable lifestyle.
This Herb-Infused Emulsion Recipe
The adaptable formula functions with whatever variety of salad greens and nuts. By incorporating one whole egg, you avoid the hassle to repurpose the extra egg white. This result is a smooth, nutty dressing that works beautifully with salads, roasted veggies, seared chicken, noodles, or rice.
Yields 2
For the Herb Emulsion (Makes about 200g)
- 100g butter
- 50 grams outer salad greens from two romaine or butter lettuce, washed and dried
- 20 grams peeled salted nuts – white seeds such as blanched almonds assist keep a vivid green, though whatever seeds can work
- One medium whole egg
For the Salad
- Two romaine or butter lettuces, split lengthways
- Cold-pressed oil, to taste
- Lemon juice or white-wine vinegar, to taste
- 1 generous handful soft greens (like chervil), leaves picked intact, stalks thinly chopped
Instructions
Begin by preparing the mayonnaise. Heat the fat in a medium saucepan, add the outer lettuce greens, place a lid and cook for about 60 seconds, mixing a couple times, until they have softened. Transfer this mixture into a container of an stick blender, add the nuts and egg, then process until smooth. As necessary, add extra seeds to get a thick texture. Keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for as long as three days.
For assemble the dish, drizzle each gem portion with oil and acid, then season generously. Coat with a tight drizzle of the green mayonnaise, then top with the greens. Arrange on two dishes and enjoy right away.
