Definitely experiment with pulses. They cook well with a little bit of highly flavoured meat, eg chickpeas & chorizo in tomato sauce, yellow split peas & bacon soup, lentil & bacon soup etc. And they are of course awesome when loaded with spice. Favourites in this house are lentil & bean chilli, dahls, lentil moussaka, bean burgers, channa masala (chickpea curry)
Also I would say to think about your veg. "Boring" things like cabbages (loads of types), carrots, onions, swede, leeks etc are very good value at this time of year so make the most of it and leave the summery/mediterranean veg until that's back in season. Try some frozen veg - it's not all great but I certainly find peas, corn, spinach, green beans are fine, and I would use frozen cauli/broccoli for soups.
Look into indian cooking if you like those flavours as that is very economical if you can get to a big supermarket and stock up with the basics spice wise and some bulk packs of pulses. Loads of really interesting veg dishes. One of my favourites which we have alongside say, a pulse or meat curry is Madhur Jaffreys cabbage and peas dish. I have simplified it even further to this:
Serves 2 greedy pigs:
Heat a tbsp oil in a stirfry pan and put in 1 tsp cumin seeds, let them sizzle for just a few seconds and then add a massive pile of shredded cabbage (savoy/white cabbage/spring greens all good) and pour in a good helping of frozen peas. Stir to coat the veg. Sprinkle in a quarter to a half tsp turmeric and cayenne pepper to taste. Add a little splash of boiling water, stir again and cover. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 5-7 mins. Remove lid, season generously with salt and 1/4 tsp garam masala. Mix and serve.