Magnificent News: Eat Voraciously: By popular demand

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Here's what's for dinner tonight.

By G. Daniela Galarza

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By popular demand

Happy last day of February, all. You know what this means? Only 22 days of winter remain! We've almost made it!

I'm pulling out a vegetable-forward casserole, something that was requested by several readers after I featured a few casseroles earlier this month.

It's easy but full of flavor thanks to Thai green curry paste. You can find this at most grocers, but I recently bought some from a company called Little Truc that ships nationwide. Theirs is super fresh and made with just shallots, lemongrass, green chiles, galangal, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, salt, makrut lime leaves and their own blend of spices. I'm a fan.

Simmered with coconut milk, soy sauce and chili paste, the green curry makes a fragrant base for chopped squash, kale and shiitakes.

This recipe makes a big batch, so feel free to halve it — or just freeze what you don't eat in individual, easy-to-reheat servings.

Today's recipe

Photos by Tom McCorkle for The Washington Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

Butternut Squash, Kale and Shiitake Casserole

Find substitution suggestions and other tips below the recipe.

Where to Buy: Cream of coconut is sweetened — it is not the same as coconut cream. It's available at most grocery stores, near the canned coconut milk or in the international section. Look for Coco Lopez or Goya brands.

For easy printing and scaling, view this recipe in our Recipe Finder.

Servings: 8 to 10
Active time: 20 mins
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup low-fat coconut milk
1/4 cup cream of coconut
2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste, such as Thai Kitchen brand
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon Chinese chili paste with garlic
One (1- to 1 1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, finely grated or pureed (1 tablespoon)
2 1/2 pounds peeled, seeded butternut squash, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 bunch kale (9 ounces), thick stems removed, leaves torn into large pieces and rinsed and blotted dry
8 ounces large shiitake mushroom caps, quartered
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

Steps

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, cream of coconut, curry paste, soy sauce or tamari, chili paste, and ginger. Add the squash, kale and mushrooms; stir to coat evenly.

3. Transfer the vegetables to the baking dish, making sure there are plenty of kale leaves on top (so they will crisp during baking). Sprinkle the top evenly with sesame seeds. Cover with a layer of parchment paper, then seal tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 35 minutes, then uncover and bake for 25 minutes, or until the squash is fork-tender and the kale on top is dark brown and crisp. Serve warm.

From food writer David Hagedorn. Tested by David Hagedorn.

Nutrition information per serving (based on 10): Calories: 110; Total Fat: 5 g; Saturated Fat: 3 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 230 mg; Carbohydrates: 19 g; Dietary Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 3 g; Protein: 3 g.

Substitution suggestions + other tips and ideas:

Instead of nonstick cooking spray >> I'd use olive oil.
If you don't have cream of coconut (such as the brand Coco Lopez) >> you could use more coconut milk and add a tablespoon of sugar.
In place of butternut squash >> feel free to substitute acorn, koginut (no need to peel either) or kabocha.
No shiitakes? >> Any small mushroom, quartered, will work fine.
If you can't find green curry paste >> any kind of curry paste will do.