What Did You Eat for Dinner Last Night?

Martha Rose Shulman, author of “Light Basics Cookbook” (William Morrow; $25) and other cookbooks.

“We just got back from spending Christmas visiting my father-in-law in Ireland the day before yesterday, so last night for dinner we had some smoked trout from Ireland with steamed broccoli and steamed parsnips, brown bread from Ireland and a very nice salad. It was mostly stuff we brought back. Usually what we eat depends on what I’m testing, otherwise we’ll have some fish or chicken or maybe a soup. But we always have a salad. No matter what else we eat, we always have a salad.”