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Drawing from a popular New York eatery, this creative technique turns typically wasted outer lettuce leaves into a smooth green emulsion. It’s a ingenious way to reduce kitchen waste while creating a condiment tasty and adaptable.

Why Use External Lettuce Greens?

Those outer greens serve as nature’s protective packaging, shielding the delicate inner lettuce. Although recycling vegetable trimmings is a fundamental sustainable practice, discovering new uses for these parts is even more impactful. Turning surplus food into rich soil prevents landfill accumulation, where it may release methane, a potent environmental concern.

It’s rather innovative when you think about it: produce rots and transforms into that ideal growing medium to feed further crops, thereby completing the loop and honoring nature’s cycle of growth.

However, given over thirty percent extra food being made than required, using valuable ingredients wisely becomes essential. Reducing waste not only saves money but also promotes the more eco-friendly lifestyle.

The Green Emulsion Method

This versatile formula functions with any type of lettuce and seeds. By incorporating one whole egg, one eliminate any need to repurpose the leftover white. The result is an smooth, rich sauce that works perfectly with salads, grilled veggies, seared chicken, noodles, or rice.

Yields two

To Make the Green Emulsion (Yields approximately 200 grams)

• 100g butter
• 50g external lettuce leaves of two little gems, washed and dried
• 20 grams peeled roasted pistachios – white nuts like cashews help maintain the bright green, but any seeds will work
• 1 medium entire egg

For the Side

• Two romaine or butter lettuces, split lengthways
• Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
• Fresh lime juice or apple cider vinegar, as desired
• One small handful soft greens (like parsley), sprigs left whole, stalks thinly chopped

Steps

First preparing the mayonnaise. Heat the fat in one small saucepan, toss in the outer salad greens, place a lid and cook for approximately 60 seconds, stirring once or twice, till they’ve wilted. Pour the contents into a jug of a stick processor, add the nuts and whole egg, then process until smooth. As necessary, incorporate extra nuts to achieve a thick consistency. Keep in a airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

To assemble the dish, sprinkle each lettuce half with oil and lemon juice, then salt liberally. Coat with a zigzag pattern of the green emulsion, then top with the herbs. Arrange on two dishes and enjoy immediately.