for those who follow me on instagram, you know that last night i made these:

turkey lettuce boats with avo-ziki sauce.

turkey lettuce boats with avo-ziki sauce. an adapted recipe from practical paleo and the makings of a delicious and satisfying thursday dinner. and i could just end the post here, adding in the recipe and preparation instructions so y’all could recreate this for yourselves. but instead, i’m going to give you a little insight as to how this whole dish came to be.

you see, now with this whole cooking for myself thing, my nightly routine has had to shift a bit. while i try to prep as much as i can in the morning to make assembling dinner a breeze upon my return at night, turns out, being all gourmet takes a little longer than just typing in 10:00 on the microwave.and pushing “start.” so in an effort to minimize the time it takes from garage door to dinner table, i’ve been experimenting with the order of events of my evening. do i prep the food before getting into the shower? do i wait until after? when do i curl my hair? i know, it’s a rough life.

because despite what i might have you believe, i don’t just wake up with these curled locks. well actually i do. that’s the point, i put the hot rollers in when i get home, take them out right before bedtime and then sleep with them up in a bun so that when i release them in the morning, it’s as if i just woke up with this hair.

ANYWAY, on this particular evening, i decided to get myself cleaned up and curlered before i prepped dinner. meaning there i was haphazardly chopping an avocado in the middle of my kitchen in my terry cloth bathrobe and a full head of hot rollers. i mean, i’m pretty sure this is how martha stewart cooks, right? but as i attempted to remove the pit so i could scoop out the rest of the avocado meat, my shaky hands lost grip of the fruit (or vegetable, pick a camp) and the creamy green deliciousness flew through the air only to find a temporary home on (and in -it really lodged itself in its fibers) my sandpiper-adorned kitchen rug. perfect, i thought. i’m just trying to make dinner, must it be such a production?

i knelt down to scrub the rug free of the green goo and salvaged the remaining portion of the avocado for use in the avo-ziki. thank goodness i was able save some of the avocado, because hi, it’s half of the recipe. without the avo, it’s just ziki. what’s ziki you ask? i don’t know, but it sure is fun to say.

this was the moment where i floated above myself, scrubbing avocado out of my rug in my hot rollers and bathrobe, and thought, man, if someone were to walk in right now, what a sight i’d be. obviously i have a long way to go before i reach domestic goddess status. but hey, at least i’ll have some perfectly coiffed ringlets when i get there.

and i guess that’s one of the awesome things about living solo (among other things). you can make dinner in your bathrobe and curlers, fling avocado across the kitchen and no one is any the wiser. (until of course, you blog about it and everyone knows all of your secrets). you can trial and error your way into domesticity. and when things don’t go as planned, no one is there to judge your methods. no one is there to share a good laugh either, but that’s why i blog these kind of stories, so you can have a good chuckle, too.

so as i get a better handle on my new nightly routine, i foresee many more bathrobed and curlered-sponsored meals. only next time, i’m going to try to keep the avocado-throwing down to a minimum.

if you’d like to enjoy a meal of lettuce boats of your own (don’t worry, you can make these fully clothed and without the curlers), just follow this recipe from practical paleo. i substituted turkey for the lamb meat, but you can use any protein you’d like. i’d like to think chicken and shrimp would also be delicious. bon appetit!

lamb lettuce boats with avo-ziki sauce 
yields 2-3 entree-sized portions

ingredients for meat and lettuce boats:
1 lb lamb stew meat
sea salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. dried or fresh oregano
1 tbs. coconut oil, melted
4-6 large romaine lettuce leaves, cleaned
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (or regular tomato, diced)
1/2 cucumber, finely diced
1 lemon, cut in half

ingredients for avo-ziki sauce:
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup grated cucumber
1 small clove garlic, grated
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp. fresh dill, finely chopped

instructions:
in a small mixing bowl, season the lamb with sea salt, black pepper, and oregano. in a skillet over medium-high heat, melt the coconut oil, and then place the lamb pieces in the pan. cook the lamb approximately 2-3 minutes or until it is browned on one side, and flip to brown the other side for another 2 minutes or so.

once the meat is cooked, chop it into 1/2-inch pieces.

place the romaine lettuce leaves onto serving plates and top with the chopped lamb, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber. squeeze lemon over each lettuce boat, then top with the avo-ziki sauce.

for the avo-ziki: combine all ingredients in a small food processor or with a hand blender.

p.s. i’m still tasting the garlic from the avo-ziki, even hours later. it’s safe to say that the vampires will be held at bay tonight. so if you plan on eating this before spending a prolonged time period with other humans, make sure to pack an extra pack of gum.