If you're unsure how to incorporate it into meals or it overpowers the foods you pair it with, here's how to avoid mistakes when using canned coconut milk.
If you're dairy-intolerant, coconut milk and cream are an excellent alternative to cows' milk in some cooked dishes (provided you like its quite strong coconut flavour).
Add more water still and you have “light” coconut milk. So it may well be thriftiest to buy coconut cream and dilute it. Buy blocks of creamed coconut and you can sidestep the additives ...