Although this recipe calls for sweet potatoes, curry is an ideal dish for vegetables like cauliflower, potatoes, or peas, and proteins like chickpeas, tofu, shrimp, or chicken. Basically, anything covered in curry sauce is YUM! Try different Thai curry pastes: there are green, yellow, and red varieties, and each has a different flavor, but be sure to check out their spice levels on the packaging for mild or spicy kinds. Not a fan of coconut milk or have an allergy? Use the equivalent amount of vegetable stock instead.

Serves 4

¼ cup (60 mL) olive oil

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium dice

2 small onions, cut into medium dice ¼ cup (60 mL) curry paste (like Thai Kitchen)

2 Tbsp (30 mL) brown sugar

2 (each 14 oz/400 mL) cans coconut milk

2 cups (500 mL) stock of choice (beef, chicken, fish, and vegetable all work well)

4 tsp (20 mL) fish sauce

2 cups (500 mL) cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

2 cups (500 mL) baby spinach, washed

In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat and cook the sweet potatoes and onions, stirring occasionally, until they’re starting to brown.

Add the curry paste and stir it into the sweet potatoes and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes to cook off the curry paste. Add the sugar, coconut milk, stock, and fish sauce and stir to combine.

Cover the pot with a lid and turn the heat down to low. Cook until the potatoes are al dente, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, cover, and cook another 5 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook for another minute until the spinach has wilted.

Turn off the heat!

Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, or store-bought naan.

Recipe by DL Acken and Aurelia Louvet from Let’s Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook, copyright © 2023 by DL Acken and Aurelia Louvet. Reprinted with permission of TouchWood Editions: www.touchwoodeditions.com

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Learn more about Let's Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook:

A colourful, comprehensive cookbook that teaches kids (ages 9+) and beginner chefs to cook, and arms them with accessible yet impressive recipes they can make with little-to-no parental supervision.

If the young gourmands on MasterChef Junior are anything to go by, lots of kids are eager to get into the kitchen. So why wait until they’re off at college facing the (gross) communal microwave in their residence lounge? Seasoned cookbook author Danielle Acken, food stylist Aurelia Louvet, and their six proteges (age 7 to 17) are here to help. Let's Eat brings together kitchen basics, tools, terminology, and 60+ recipes with loads of variations to suit a range of tastes.

The book opens with a chapter of recipes to build basic techniques—making eggs, rice, pasta, salad dressing, mashed potatoes, bread, and roast chicken (what? Yes, really)—that will set kids up for culinary success, before branching into breakfasts, fresh snacks and sides, hot main courses, and desserts. Learn to make hits like:

• Sticky Soda Pop Ribs
• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Falafel Veggie Burgers
• Deviled Eggs
• Pulled Chicken Tacos
• Sweet Potato Curry
• Teriyaki Baked Salmon
• Oven Baked Doughnuts

Following this fun, choose-your-own-adventure style primer, with its bold, colourful photography, kids will soon advance from quick afterschool snacks and summer picnics to breakfasts in bed and full-course family dinners (with dessert, of course).