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.

Baked farro with tomato sauce & lemon: $1.23/serving

The original source for this recipe, 101 Cookbooks (by Heidi Swanson, of “Super Natural Every Day” fame), refers to it as “risotto,” most likely for want of a better description. The only thing it has in common with risotto is being cooked by the absorption method. It’s not at all creamy—in fact, its non-creaminess is a key part of its appeal in the first place. The farro absorbs all of the salty, citrusy, zesty flavors while still maintaining a pleasant chewiness. (I will refrain here from saying “toothsome.” I’ve used it before when I was completely for lack of any better word and it was early in the morning and I was tired, but an Australian colleague of mine, being a native of the Commonwealth—whose residents don’t see fit as we do to bastardize the King’s English—has a habit of repeatedly pointing out to people that it does NOT mean chewy, and because she is right, I will help her out.)

Creamy farro & chickpea soup: 49 cents/serving

This soup is unexpected, hearty, and cheap—perfect for a light almost-end-of-the-week meal.

The chickpeas are cooked with bay leaves and then puréed to add body to the soup, while the farro (also known as emmer wheat) adds a satisfying chewiness.

It takes a little planning ahead if you’re going to use dried chickpeas—and I recommend you do; they taste dramatically better than canned—but believe me, it’s totally worth it for 49 cents.