• Spices are your friend. Buy lots - and experiment.
• Add some protein: tofu, tempeh, chickpeas & non-starchy beans, nuts (almonds are winners for protein), cheese, egg, & Greek yogurt.
• Nuts and seeds are more flavoursome when roasted first.
• Lentils and chickpeas can be delicious, but there is a vast range of other beans etc available.
• Jaime Oliver slugs olive oil over a meal before serving for a reason. Virgin is the most flavoursome, mild the least.
• Chopped greenery, eg coriander, on the top.
• Don’t use more water than necessary when boiling.
• Acidophilus yogurt can be a good substitute for cream if you’re on a low fat diet.
• Mashes can be legendary, especially if made from roast veges. Try adding off-the-wall things like gherkins or beetroot for fun.
• Garlic. Some say you can’t have too much.
• Chilli. Cheap and can easily lift a dish. You can however have too much.
• Vinegars and pickles added can lift a dish.
• The left-over horrible wine in a cask is fine for cooking with.
• Carrots and onions are a great base for many dishes.
• Seasonal veges. They are all the rage for a reason – they’re fresh and comparatively cheap.
• Google. There are thousands of tasty vegetarian dishes from around the world.
• Curry. It’s not one flavour – there’s hundreds. You can make your own with spices etc, or buy handy jars of paste at the supermarket.
• Soy and other Asian sauces are your friend.
• Don’t boil everything up in one pot. Fry tofu etc separately to add on the top for flavour variety.
• Texture-wise tofu, tempeh or halved mushrooms can be meat substitutes.
• Add crunch with some nuts on top of a meal (cashews are great) or in a salad (eg walnuts).
• Finely chopped raw onion mixed in can lift a dish.
• Try and have at least one green. Wilt a few chopped up spinach leaves into each meal.
• Asian grocery stores can be a cheap source of many wonder tasty vege ingredients.
• Canned chopped tomatoes are probably the cheapest source of tomato, just look out for the added salt.
Please add/correct/etc.... Only thing I don't want to hear about is costly things - this is advice for budget cooking
