Transforming External Salad Leaves into Creamy Emulsion – An Sustainable Recipe

Modeled after a well-known NYC restaurant, this groundbreaking method turns typically wasted outer lettuce leaves into a luxurious green emulsion. It’s a brilliant way to minimize leftovers while making a condiment delicious and flexible.

The Reason Repurpose External Salad Greens?

These outer leaves are the plant’s natural packaging, shielding the delicate inside lettuce. While composting produce scraps is one basic sustainable habit, finding creative uses for them is even more impactful. Turning excess food into fertile compost prevents landfill buildup, where they can release greenhouse gases, a potent climate concern.

This is rather innovative if you think about it: food rots and transforms into that perfect growing medium to feed further plants, thus closing the cycle and respecting nature’s process of life.

Yet, with more than 30% surplus produce getting made than needed, consuming valuable resources efficiently is crucial. Minimizing waste not only saves cash but also supports the increasingly eco-friendly lifestyle.

The Green Emulsion Method

This versatile recipe works with any type of lettuce and nuts. By using one entire egg, you eliminate the need to repurpose the extra white. This outcome is a creamy, rich dressing that pairs perfectly with salads, roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, noodles, or rice.

Yields 2

For the Green Emulsion (Makes approximately 200g)

• 100g butter
• 50 grams external salad leaves from 2 romaine or butter lettuce, washed and thoroughly dried
• 20g peeled roasted pistachios – light-colored seeds such as blanched almonds help maintain a bright color, though any seeds will work
• 1 small entire egg

For the Salad

• 2 little gem lettuces, split longwise
• Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
• Fresh lime juice or white-wine vinegar, as desired
• 1 small handful fresh herbs (such as chervil), leaves picked whole, stems thinly chopped

Steps

Begin by preparing the emulsion. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan, add the external lettuce greens, place a lid and wilt for about a minute, mixing a couple times, until they’ve softened. Transfer this mixture into a jug of a stick processor, add the nuts and whole egg, then blend till smooth. As necessary, incorporate more seeds to achieve the thick texture. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To prepare the dish, drizzle each gem portion with olive oil and lemon juice, then season generously. Dress with a zigzag pattern of the green emulsion, then top with the greens. Arrange on two plates and enjoy right away.