AIP Indian spiced ground lamb with turmeric, cinnamon, and carrot served in lettuce wraps

Cooking an onion for 30 minutes sounds like something you could skip, and most nights that might feel like more than you can manage. This dish asks for it anyway: low heat, no rushing, the onion turning from white to gold while you do something else nearby. 15 minutes at a slightly higher heat will still get you dinner if that is genuinely all you have today, but the full 30 minutes is where the real depth comes from.

Curcumin, the compound in turmeric that is linked to calmer inflammation in the gut and elsewhere in the body, is doing quiet work in this skillet, alongside fresh and dried ginger, which is involved in digestive motility and may be the most studied plant there is for gut comfort. Lamb is one of the more digestible proteins you can eat right now, and it is a good source of iron, zinc, and B vitamins, useful while your gut lining is still repairing itself.

Spoon the filling into lettuce cups instead of the bread you might be used to, and let that be enough. Eat them like tacos, pick them up with your hands, and give yourself the few seconds it takes to actually taste the ginger and lime before you reach for the next one.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 small onion, finely diced (omit for strict low-FODMAP; see notes)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 6 medium carrots, shredded
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp lime juice (omit for strict low-histamine)
• 1 head butter lettuce or romaine, leaves separated, for serving

Method

Warm the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bay leaves, turmeric, cinnamon, ground ginger, and sea salt. Stir for about 1 minute until the spices are fragrant. Pull the bay leaves out and set them aside, or leave them in if you prefer.

Add the diced onion, minced garlic, and grated fresh ginger to the spiced oil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook slowly for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is deeply golden and soft. This is the part that builds the flavor. Do not rush it.

Raise the heat back to medium. Add the ground lamb and shredded carrots. Break the lamb apart with a spoon as it cooks. Stir-fry for 5-10 minutes until the meat is cooked through and the carrots have softened.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice.

Spoon the filling into individual lettuce cups and serve warm. Eat them like tacos, or pull the cups apart and eat everything together from a bowl if you prefer.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*