To introduce her new weekly column, Rukmini Iyer shares her top tips and tricks for fast, fuss-free cooking, starting with her five main kitchen rules

An economical, autumnal stew using the ‘three sisters’ – corn, beans and squash – plus fritters for breakfast or as a side for a meaty chilli

A spinach and chickpea salad and a chickpea and chorizo fideuà made with toasted angel-hair pasta

Scandi-style barley beetroot fritters with smoked mackerel-studded yoghurt and dill, and a barley risotto flavoured with bacon, peas and mushroom and topped with a fried egg

Enjoy today’s thrifty dishes individually or pair them and serve up a feast: a starter or side of lemon dal, crisp chickpeas and pitta chips, and a spicy tomato and mushroom biryani

A Spanish-style butter bean salad with oranges and olives and crunchy walnuts, and a black bean, avocado and rice taco bowl spike with lime

Little bouncy pasta bits with an easy broccoli and walnut pesto, and a Roman-style chickpea, tomato and rosemary bowl of penne

A Trini take on sweetcorn soup, plus a tropical twist on peaches and cream

Puff pastry is a great thing to have to hand for using up all kinds of odds and ends, both savoury and sweet

Start with a West African sweet potato and chickpea stew, and round things off with some no-bake peanut butter cups that even the kids can make

Seasonal fresh sweetcorn and tinned both work well in today’s thrifty recipes for a charred sweetcorn and green bean salad and super-snackable cheesy scones

These recipes for fried rice and mini pancake are a great – and thrifty – introduction to cooking with the everyday Korean staple

Oven-baked tomato rice with butter beans, and rice pancakes made with rice cooking water and served with stir-fried vegetables and a peanut sauce

The cheesy goodness of courgette-stuffed bread, plus wonderfully rich, slow-cooked garlic courgettes with bulgur pilaf

Frozen peas retain all their natural sweet freshness and are a comforting essential when you’re cooking on a budget

When baked, this top-drawer summer berry takes on a lovely floral note that you’ll not be able to get enough of

Two meals for about £1 a head: tomato, leek and oregano beans with feta, and butter-bean mash with sausage and lemony greens

A thrifty, flavour-packed sausage traybake using up softened apples and other leftover veg, and a delectable eve’s pudding made out of old apples and stale bread

Vegetarian, gluten-free and hearty to boot: a chunky vegetable soup/stew and an egg-free chocolate mousse

A simple smashed spiced jacket potato with tuna mayo, and mini roastie cubes loaded with three-bean chilli