Rents due. Youve overspent on dining out, splurged on that amazing outfit you desperately needed, or maybe youre just on a tight budget. I hear you. I spent my early 20s in the exact same cycle. But dont let the fact that youre not living like a Kardashian stop you from eating good food.

My favorite budget-friendly meal was cooking a big batch of affordable lentils and using them in different ways throughout the week. The key to making lentils actually taste good is adding a ton of aromatics onions, garlic, bay leaves, herbs and of course salt to the cooking liquid. It transforms normally dull, tasteless lentils into zesty, herbaceous legumes. Youll never want to buy the canned stuff again.

After braising one pound of lentils, theres enough to be turned into three completely different meals using the same base of ingredients. The first is a cold lentil salad that is great to bring for lunch for the week. With lots of vegetables, like spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots and celery, its a nutrition powerhouse sure to power you through those last few hours at work or at least until happy hour.

Next up is a vibrant vegetable lentil stew. I use the same vegetables I used in the cold salad to save on grocery costs and cut back on food waste, but change up the flavors by adding harissa paste. Harissa is a Northern African condiment thats spicy, acidic and a little smoky. Trader Joes sells it for a mere $3, so it fits perfectly into budget-themed cooking.

Lastly, I use the lentils to make ricotta meatballs. They are divine, and you wont even miss the meat. Ricotta prevents them from drying out while making them taste like soft, pillowy clouds of cheese. Serve them with a generous amount of store-bought pesto and a hefty garnish of Parmesan and you wont even realize youre living paycheck to paycheck.

Heres to cheap eats that dont taste cheap.