Cooking with kids is so much fun. Not only are you keeping them busy/happy, but you are teaching them a life skill that you can benefit from in the future.
My two are very enthusiastic about cooking at the moment. I have to help them of course and am the chef assistant who they command to finely chop onion or garlic and I always put heavy dishes in hot ovens or carry hot pots or heavy pots for them.
Firstly, they choose a recipe that they fancy making/eating, they make a list of the ingredients that we need, we check what we have and then make a trip to the grocery store to buy the rest. They love shopping for ingredients for their very own meal.
Tiger was the first to do a meal some time ago ...he chose Thai Fried Rice because he loves thai food and we have a small thai cookbook. It was so delicious. Here is the recipe.
Thai Fried Rice
1 cup basmati rice (recipe used Jasmine rice)
1 red pepper
350g chopped chicken breast
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 Tbsp mild thai curry paste (we used green curry paste) (2 Tbsp is a bit more spicy but tastier)
1/2 tsp paprika powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 Tbsp Thai fish sauce
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper
deep fried basil leaves, to garnish
(Serves 4)
Cook the basmati rice (1/3 rice and 2/3 water) till water is gone and the rice is fluffy.
Deep fry basil leaves in oil until crispy.
Cut the red pepper. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a wok and fry the onion and red pepper for 1 minute.
Add the chicken, garlic, curry paste and spices and stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until chicken has lost all pink.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the cooked rice, fish sauce and salt and pepper. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
Make a well in the centre of the rice, add 1 Tbsp of oil and when it is hot, add the eggs. Leave to cook for 2 mins until eggs are lightly set and then stir into rice mixture.
Scatter over the basil leaves and serve straight from the wok.
