Our Royal Family

Phoebe was captivated by the the row of weeklies and their splashy covers on display at CVS last weekend. "Is that the new princess?" she asked. (I hoped she wasn't referring to any of the half-dozen half-naked Kardashians.) I looked from Us Weekly to Star across to Hello. Yes! I said. That's Kate Middleton. She's the Salmon of Wales!

It took her a few seconds to get it. Oh, right! Salmon is the princess!

We've never been calorie counters in our house. The food pyramid -- which I have a hard time even really trusting anymore -- is not anything my children would ever recognize beyond a structure they might like to replicate with legos. There have been meals where we talk about our plates resembling rainbows, but in truth, our philosophy on teaching healthy eating habits has always been conveniently hands-off: If they are eating roughly what we are eating, they are probably doing OK*. Way early on, though, when we were just developing the dinner habit, and when they were just starting to recognize that the point of dinner was to eat the food, not chuck it, we came up with our own version of the food pyramid. The Royals (Disney and otherwise) had proven to be excellent bribery booty for toilet-training, so we decided to assign their venerable titles towards a few random superfoods we wanted the kids to eat and drink more of: Milk was the Prince. Broccoli, with its almighty supply of treasured vitamins and calcium, the King. Walnuts and eggs were the Queen and Queen Mother, since both of them, if you were to believe the headlines, contained enough omega-3s to triple our children's chances of getting into Stanford. And salmon, pink and delicate: The Princess. I can't call this strategy foolproof -- as both Lady Phoebe and Lady Abby still recoil at the sight of an egg -- but I do know that King Broccoli and Princess Salmon have remained in power ever since.

*Though I do lie awake worrying about our dessert habit.

Royal Salmon with Yogurt-Mustard Dill Sauce

Sprinkle a 1 1/4-pound salmon filet with salt and pepper. Roast in a foil-lined baking dish in 400°F oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the following in a small bowl: 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 2 heaping teaspoons mustard (preferably Dijon), 1 tablespoon chopped dill, squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. Serve salmon with a dollop of sauce on the side. Serve with green beans and soba noodles. (See the "pea" page in Chapter 4 of Time for Dinner for a good noodle recipe.)

Or serve with broccoli, eggs, and walnuts and a tall glass of milk.

Yogurt-mustard dill sauce: Elevating our simple salmon dinners since 1998.