Let Us Wrap Lunch in Lettuce

July 19th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch

Whenever my mother sees the palms of my hands, she always asks me if I’ve been eating too many carrots.  I then look down at my hands and can’t see anything wrong, they look perfectly normal to me.

But then on a recent trip to Florida to visit a friend, said friend also noticed my orange-ish skin – except she asked me what was all over my hands after I finished slathering up the kids with sunscreen.

Orange Skin Too Many Carrots

What the heck are you people talking about?  I still don’t see it!  My hands just look nicely tanned!  And why are the palms of your hands so PINK?

Did you know this?  That eating a lot of foods rich in beta carotene will give your skin an awesome orange glow?  Those of you who love sweet potatoes, red pepper and carrots say “Aye!”  Or better yet, just raise your hand… we’ll figure out who you are.

Anyways, this is the beginning of my explanation of how I came to wrap my lunch in a big lettuce leaf.  And it also sort of explains the blog silence for the past few weeks.  We’ve been out of town, and before that we were busy celebrating the 1st birthday of our favorite little guy!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy

(This is a gratuitous baby pic, I admit it.)

Anyways.  I’m usually using my orange hands to cut up vegetables to eat along side my current quick and easy, don’t-have-to-turn-the-stove-on lunch – some canned fish (salmon, sardines or tuna) with avocado or olive oil, S&P and some diced veggie like green pepper or pickles.

Salmon Salad with Veggies

This was half a can of salmon, diced green pepper, a little olive oil seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Eaten with carrots and cucumber, as you can plainly see if you look at that picture, or the soles of my feet.

When I made sardine salad for lunch few days ago, I was rummaging through the fridge for my beloved carrots or a red bell pepper to cut into sticks and fill the empty space along side this attractive green blob of sardines and avocado.

Sardine Salad Glop

That’s when I came across the giant head of homegrown lettuce we were gifted from my grandmother’s garden.  The leaves from this head of lettuce were so huge and soft that I realized it was the perfect opportunity to make a lettuce wrap – and the perfect opportunity to relax my grip a little on the bag of carrots.

Sardine Salad Lettuce Wrap

OK, OK – so I still used some carrot (somebody stop me!) but it was less than usual!  Progress, people.

Once filled, I rolled that sucker up like a green burrito.

Sardine Salad in a Lettuce Wrap

If I’d have thought ahead, I would have cut this thing in half and given you a nice little cross section peek my lettuce wrap.  But instead I only turned it around and snapped a picture of it from a different angle.  I blame the carrots for my lack of creative thinking.

Cocoon for Lunch

This sort of looks like a giant pupa or cocoon, doesn’t it?  I actually made two cocoons, one for me and one for Zak.  I’ve seen lettuce wraps a bunch of times before around the interwebs, but I’ve never made one – it was so simple, I LOVED this!  Zak liked it too.  It was a nice change of pace from the usual carrot stick and cucumber route.  You could use a wide variety of leafy greens for this too; romaine, red leaf, Boston bibb or Swiss chard. It just needs to be semi-sturdy without being too thick or chewy.  Raw kale or Collards might not be the best choice for something like this, but that’s just speculation.  I’m not sure if you want to trust the woman with the orange hands.

Simple Sardine Salad Lettuce Wrap

(Serves 2)

1 can of sardines
1/2 avocado, diced
salt, pepper and (optional) garlic powder to taste

Mash sardines and stir together with avocado and seasonings. Load into your leafy green vehicle of choices – add any fun toppings you might have around like shredded carrot, sprouts, sunflower seeds or sesame seeds. Then it’s time to wrap, roll and chow!


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