How to eat well and cheaply

1. Bananas

Banana Cardamom Milkshake
You’ll be surprised by how much spices can jazz up mundane food items you always have around. Here, cardamom is the secret ingredient: combine it with all those browning bananas you have on your shelf, and you’ve got yourself a first-rate, fancy milkshake.

2. Polenta

Blueberry Almond Breakfast Polenta
Bag the rushed, pre-class bowls of cream of wheat, and start your day with polenta instead. The additions of vanilla, fresh blueberries and cardamom turn this into a breakfast that’s all grown up.

3. Canned Tomatoes

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
It’s a win-win: this rich, simple sauce has a cult following, and to make it, you’ll only need three ingredients. For those of you who preferred lit class to cooking during school, the hands-off, easy simmering requires next to no culinary skill.

4. Eggs

Daniel Patterson's Poached Scrambled Eggs
If you’re anything like us, you lived on eggs during school. Graduate from scrambling, and next time you take out your carton, poach them. Yes, you heard right. It’s a whole new ballgame. Poaching is a quick, forgiving way to yield the fluffiest eggs.

5. Potatoes

The WFP: Greek Mahogany Potatoes
Two reasons you should make these potatoes: one, you probably already have all of the ingredients, and two, they’re world famous. A third: you’ll need something to eat with the scrambled eggs you’ve just poached. Forget about them while you work on your eggs - their long cooking time will result in a well-seasoned, satisfying side.

6. Canned Tuna

Provencal Tuna Melt
Canned tuna is the workhorse of the pantry. It’s always there, ready to make a meal. It’s also boring. Dress it up with scallions, capers, and asiago, and you’ve got a sandwich that effectively redefines the tuna melt.

7. Cannellini Beans

Roasted Fennel White Bean Dip
This isn’t your standard bean dip. Roast your ingredients before you puree them: here, it’s all about the cooking method, and it won’t cost you a penny more.

8. Rice (and Lentils, and Onions)

Mujaddara with Spiced Yogurt
The last time you cooked a dish that involved rice, lentils, and onions, you were cleaning out your pantry. This is different: the sweet onions tangle with the rice and plump lentils to create a spiced dish with a fragrance that lingers long after the first bite.

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