It’s full-on soup and sandwich season. Don’t you appreciate the convenience and ease of this meal? And don’t you appreciate how grocery-budget-conscious it is, as well? It’s a hearty, satisfying, tasty way to trim down food expenses!

I mention the affordability aspect of the soup and sandwich combo because I’m trying to save for a new fridge. Been at it for a couple years now. I want the French door version with the pull-out freezer drawer underneath the doors—you know, the one with the celestial lighting when you open the doors? Pretty pricey.

So I’m trying to spend less on food, but be sure we’re still eating well. (There’s only so many nights per week my hubby will tolerate beans and rice.) Thus enter the soup and sandwich plan.

But I’m not talking the many-layered, super deluxe sandwich you’ll find in sandwich shops. No fancy deli meat and cheese slices here. Nope, I’m talking sandwiches from what I happen to have in our food storage. Tuna and canned chicken, to be exact.

You can imagine, then, my delight when my latest “Serious Eats” newsletter featured a recipe for “The Best Tuna Salad Sandwich Ever!” I thought to myself, “Oh boy, here we go!” It was described as being classic in every way, but with a couple of subtle twists to amp up its flavor and texture. All the Serious Eats testers gave it five out of five stars.

The reasons they say this recipe works is because you briefly soak the diced red onion in red wine vinegar to tames its pungency and give it a pop of tartness. You also add a splash of fish sauce or minced anchovy. And you finely shred the tuna to prevent ending up with any dry bits. Take a look at this and tell me what you think: Then there’s the chicken salad sandwich idea. The beauty of this classic sandwich is how satisfying it is. It’s so good it even works with canned chicken. And while it’s a great way to use up leftovers, it's also good enough to roast a bird for the express purpose of making a large batch all on its own.

It’s also very versatile and endlessly customizable. Whether you like a traditional recipe or want something more complex (such as Ina Garten's dressed-up Waldorf chicken salad), it's hard to go wrong with this sandwich.

While chicken salad seems like a simple dish (after all, at its heart, all you need is chicken and mayonnaise), you can take a few easy steps to elevate this sandwich. For instance:

• Marinate your chicken before cooking (for a special flavor boost)
• Choose poaching as your cooking method (to keep it tender)
• Shred the cooked chicken with either a stand or hand mixer (for a uniform shred)
• BE SURE the chicken you’re using is moist and tender
• Add a pinch of brown sugar (to add a note of sweet molasses under the tang of mayonnaise and onion)
• Try mashed avocado as a substitute to mayonnaise (for added interest and nutrient boost)
• Or try Greek yogurt as a mayo substitute (to lower the cholesterol count)
• Consider adding a dash of curry powder (to add an intense, well-balanced flavor)
• And be sure to add plenty of crunch via diced carrot, or celery, or onion, or…(to add textural interest and nutrient boost)
• Polish it off with chopped nuts and diced fresh or dried fruit (again, for textural interest and to add flavor sparkle)

Finally, allow the flavors to meld overnight in the refrigerator. Serve on toasted bread or that classic halved croissant. Whatever chicken salad recipe you use, any of the above tips will take it to a new level of deliciousness.

Now back to my trimming-the-grocery-budget so I can buy a new fridge. Stay tuned; this isn’t the only money-saving meal-making tip I’m trying. There’s more I’ll share, just in case you too have an expensive buy you’d like to make. And if you have any tips to share, please do. Let’s stick together and trim that grocery budget this year!