What's for dinner? Thai!

Trying to expose your kids to new cuisines or new ingredients can be a difficult task, to say the least. They know what they like and often want to stick to familiar flavors.

Who can really blame them? Food can be a little scary — especially if you have no context in which to place the food and, much of the time, have no control over what you're being served.

For both those reasons, I think it's important to get kids into the "what's for dinner" conversation early in their childhood.

That discussion can begin with introducing them to the foods you enjoy and telling them what you like about those foods. It's tempting to make two meals — one for your kids' preferences and one for yours — but it does the kids a disservice. Who knows, they may be more adventurous than you suspect. And even if they aren't, it begins to open their minds to the possibility that new foods might be good.

When my kids were young, I got a writing assignment on Thai food. Since I hadn't cooked a great deal of Thai dishes before, I needed to embrace the topic, which meant I needed to cook a number of Thai meals. Of course, my husband and I loved it, but to our surprise, our kids were willing to take a few bites, too. I credit that to the fact that we discussed how some Thai dishes had a lot in common with other favorite meals they enjoyed.

One of their favorites was red curry with beef and basil. It has a coconut cream base, which is creamy and comforting, much like a chowder or creamy pasta sauce, both popular with my boys. It's served over steamed rice, which my kids already knew and loved. Beef? No problem. Thai basil? A new flavor for my kids, so I only added a bit because I didn't want it to overwhelm the dish.

Red curry paste, depending on which brand you buy, can go from hot to hotter. Since my kids weren't professional fire-breathers then, I tasted a little of it before stirring it into the pot and only added a small amount. My husband and I like our Thai food on the incendiary side, so I served sliced Thai chiles separately.

Serves 6.

Note: Slow cooking the beef in a mixture of coconut milk and red curry results in a meltingly tender stew. Because the dish is rich and highly flavorful, you only need a few spoonfuls over steamed rice to make a satisfying meal. Red curry paste can be found in the Asian food section of the grocery store. Some brands can be quite spicy, so before you add yours to the recipe, sample a little to make sure you know how much to add. From Meredith Deeds.

• 1 (13.66 oz.) can coconut milk, stirred (to combine the cream and water), divided

• 1 to 3 tbsp. red curry paste, or to taste (see Note)

• 2 tbsp. fish sauce

• 1 1/2 lb. lean beef stew meat, cubed

• 1 red pepper, seeded, cored and cut into 1-in. pieces

• 4 c. fresh baby spinach

• 1/4 c. loosely packed Thai, purple or Italian basil leaves

Directions

When the meat is tender, skim any fat off the surface and discard. Turn the heat setting to warm and add the remaining coconut milk, spinach and basil. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes or until the spinach is just wilted. Serve warm with steamed rice.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories300Fat18 gSodium650 mg

Carbohydrates9 gSaturated fat13 gTotal sugars7 g

Protein28 gCholesterol70 mgDietary fiber2 g

Meredith Deeds is a cookbook author and food writer from Edina. Reach her at meredith@meredithdeeds.com. Follow her on Twitter ­at