The healthiest dinners, my husband tells me, consist of a handful of items: sardines, turmeric, pumpkin seeds and beets.
"Oh, and Swiss chard," he adds. "And prunes. And pomegranate juice. And canned pumpkin."
The husband has been on a mission of sorts: to identify what's good for us, and get it on the table.
Enter The List. The List is something the husband has tracked down, thanks to some Internet sleuthing.
"This is so great!" gushes the husband, taping The List to the refrigerator door. "Finally, we know what we should be eating."
I look closely at The List.
I notice that it does not include Cheese Doodles or Mars bars or chocolate chip ice cream. I notice that it does not even mention some of the more commonly consumed vegetables. Like French fries, say, or onion rings.
"Sardines?" I ask. "Full of calcium," says the husband. "And vitamin B. And omega threes."
Now I've never been really clear on what an omega three is - or even an omega two - but I'd be more than happy to make meals that contain them.
There's just one problem: I can't stand sardines. They smell, well, way too much like fish.
"Can't we just, like, get some sardine pills from the health food store?" I wonder. "Some nonsmelly pills?" My husband regards The List, and lets out a laugh.
"No, silly," he says. "You eat sardines on toast - multigrain, of course - or you add them to a salad.
They're yummy."
I haven't, I suppose, been nearly as conscientious as I ought to have been when it comes to nutritious food, because I've always associated the word "yummy" with other things I've put in my mouth. Brownies are yummy. Hamburgers are yummy. Croissants are yummy.
But I have never been heard to say: "Man! These sardines are out of this world! Who needs lasagna or fried chicken when you can have sardines?" My husband sighs. "Come on," he urges. "Get in the spirit. This is all about nutrition."
Fair enough, I tell him. Next time we have a dinner party, I won't be serving meat. I'll whip up the loveliest sardine quiche, and throw in pumpkin seeds and beets.
Remember, if you're invited, I'll be focusing on The List. I hope you're fond of turmeric. I'll be sprinkling it on the prunes.
