Asian cabbage slaw: 50 cents/serving

This very well might be the most versatile slaw I know of—it’s terrific on its own as a salad, as a side with meat, or as a meal in a wrap, over noodles, or with rice, as it was enjoyed this time. I’m not a fan of mayonnaise-based slaws, so this one features light, crisp flavors and a sesame vinaigrette—perfect for summer, when it might have to sit outside in the sun. Make up a big ol’ bowl and keep it in the fridge for light, cheap, filling lunch salads throughout the week. (If you do this, save the peanuts as a garnish rather than mixing them in, as the acid in the rice vinegar will turn them mushy after a few days.)

Chinese takeout-style pork lo mein: $1.86/serving

Given the popularity of last month’s orange chicken and sesame noodles, I thought it’d be worth taking another crack at some Chinese “takeout” for under $2 a serving. (It should be noted that although it’s a smaller serving than what you’d receive at a restaurant, it’s not dramatically smaller.) Employing the help of Cook’s Illustrated, I think I was able to pull off a version that’s pretty dang close to the real thing. In fact, not only was it about three times as flavorful, it was missing about three times the amount of grease. As I recommend in the actual recipe, it’s worth investing in a large bag of dried shiitake mushrooms (available at all Asian markets) for this and other meals that call for shiitakes; they’re about one-third the price of fresh, and the liquid left over from reconstituting them makes an amazing mushroom stock or soup broth you can freeze for later.

Stir-fried cabbage with ginger, chilies and rice: 70 cents/serving

This is not the first time I’ve set out to prove that if you have a head of cabbage, 20 minutes, and some pantry staples, you have a meal (see: pickled cabbage stir-fry, white beans and cabbage), but it bears repeating because this dish is so surprisingly good and involves so few ingredients. And in addition to costing under $1 per serving, it’s versatile—B. had leftovers the next day on bread with a fried egg on top and declared them even better than the night before. It may not be the photogenic bowl of food, but part of this is because the cabbage is so well-cooked and deeply flavored that it doesn’t even look like cabbage anymore, let alone taste like it.

Whole grain-stuffed cabbage rolls with currants & pine nuts: $1.91/serving

First off, it’s near physically impossible to take an appetizing-looking photo of a cabbage roll, so I apologize. Second, I normally make these in the slow cooker and this time chose to make them in the oven, a method I’m not entirely sure I prefer. But, caveats aside, they’re a delicious alternative to meat-filled cabbage rolls, and if you’re averse to the whole cabbage-roll thing (which I completely understand; when I first encountered them a few years ago, I thought they were the most disgusting thing I’d ever seen, but have since grown to appreciate and even love them), the filling on its own makes a great salad or side dish.

Penne with cabbage and gorgonzola: $1.25/serving

This is one of the simplest weeknight pasta dishes there is, similar in flavor and technique to Heidi Swanson’s deservedly popular white beans and cabbage. It’s no more complicated than shredding some cabbage (this admittedly goes faster when you have a food processor) and boiling some pasta, and tastes restaurant-quality, especially if you spring for good-quality cheese—it really brings out the sweetness in the cabbage.

Beef bulgogi lettuce wraps: 53 cents each

Full disclosure: I know real bulgogi is usually grilled. This version is not. If you saw the weather outside right now (gale-force winds and a pelting snow/rain mix), you would understand and forgive me. That said, this is a version anyone can make at any time, provided they have kimchi on hand. I’ve made this before without the kimchi, so I can say with some authority that it really makes the dish. I know it’s tempting to want to just cook the meat up plain and serve it over some rice, but it’s not going to knock your socks off without the spicy tang of kimchi for balance. You have been warned.

Kimchi fried rice: 72 cents/serving

As evidenced by this and the Thai version I made back in November, I’m a big fan of fried rice. I tend to be a bit overzealous when it comes to estimating how much rice we’re going to need for certain dishes—in this case, kimchi jjigae—and fried rice is the perfect way to turn something otherwise inedible (cold, dried-out refrigerated rice) into something amazing, whether it’s one serving’s worth or eight. Obviously there are no substitutions for kimchi, but you can use any meat for this; I used pork, but it would work fine with chicken, beef, or even pre-fried tofu cubes.

Kimchi jjigae (pork and kimchi stew): 88 cents/serving

This is not the first time I’ve made kimchi jjigae. In fact, it’s kind of become my go-to “use up the last of the kimchi” recipe, because it seems that the older the kimchi gets, the better this stew tastes. It’s not exactly something you can whip up after a trip to Safeway—unless your Safeway happens to have a Korean section—but next time you find yourself near an Asian grocery, be on the lookout for gochugaru (Korean pepper powder) and gochujang (Korean fermented pepper paste). They’re both quite inexpensive and versatile—I’ve even used gochujang to make hummus—and once you have them, this stew is a great, quick weeknight vehicle for whatever meat or vegetables you happen to have on hand.

Hot-and-sour cabbage noodle soup: 80 cents/serving

I’d like to say I made this soup to mark the end of National Soup Month (it’s also National Bath Safety Month, National Tubers and Dried Fruit Month, and National Thyroid Awareness Month, for those keeping track), but the truth is I had fresh bun noodles left over from bun bo hue, half a head of napa cabbage left over from the best-ever potstickers, and a whopping 0% motivation after spending most of yesterday reading “Adventures Among Ants” (a very good book, by the way) in a crowded jury room. I did not get chosen for a jury—or even called up for voir dire, for that matter—but I did have to spend many hours sandwiched between people who either smelled bad or didn’t know how to use their inside voice. A good, hearty soup was about all I had in me by 5 pm.

Best-ever potstickers: $1.08/serving

When B. and I first started dating, he had to travel a lot for work. During one particular trip, I got the idea to stock his freezer with something he could eat when he got back. For reasons that remain unclear even to this day, potstickers came to mind. I had never made them before, but I forged ahead all the same with what I thought was a reasonable approximation of the frozen ones I had been buying at Trader Joe’s. What resulted were inedibly salty, dense little meatballs in inelegant rubbery pouches. These Best-Ever Potstickers, the result of many subsequent years’ worth of trial and error, are better than anything you could buy at the store. Not too salty and not too dense, with a burst of freshness from ginger and cilantro. They’re great for snacks, appetizers, lunch, dinner, or to freeze uncooked for later, and I guarantee whoever you make them for will be impressed.