Co-op Demos 25-Minute Indian Simmer Sauce Meals

Sauces bearing the names Tikka Masala, Tamarind Curry and Vindaloo can jump start fast and healthy meals, according to co-op staff, who talked food shop with customers at Wednesday's New To Natural food demo in the

Other sauce choices are Coconut Curry, and Classic Korma—which happens to be Co-op Produce Department Manager Ellen Siegel's favorite for vegetarian dishes. Maya Kaimal's simmer sauces can also be used to cook meat or seafood dishes, co-op staff explained.

Siegel made Wednesday's co-op food sampling with the following ingredients:

• Maya Kaimal's Classic Korma sauce

• potatoes

• garbanzo beans

• frozen peas

• carrots

• Twin Oaks More Than Tofu

She said she simmered it for 25 to 30 minutes until the potatoes cooked through.

Maya Kaimal's website provides a variety of recipes for its sauces.

The sauces can make dishes to feed four, Siegel said. Co-op Education Coordinator Kim Rush Lynch agreed. She cooks a meal combining the Classic Korma with tofu or chicken and veggies over brown rice—and it makes enough for dinner for her husband and her with leftovers, she said.

The demo also included Twin Oaks Tofu, sold in the co-op for $3.79. Twin Oaks is a worker-owned cooperative farm in Louisa, VA.

The co-op sells the farm's new line, "More Than Tofu", which gets the name because it's also made with quinoa and amaranth. Twin Oaks website states the "More Than Tofu" line is gluten free and organic. The varieties include Peanut and Ginger, Spicy Thai, Indian Masala, and Garlic Shitake.

Maya Kaimal's simmer sauces and are sold in the co-op for $5.99. Many of them are gluten free, all natural and vegan, but customers must check individual labels for specifics.

You can brown your tofu and toss it into a simmer sauce or choose a meat for your protein, Siegel explained. Not everything has to be browned, she said—some seafood, for example, can cook while simmering with the sauce.

Cook time depends on how long it takes to cook the vegetables that are included, and meats need to be fully cooked, Siegel said.

Currently the New to Natural demos and samplings are second Wednesday's from 4 to 6 p.m. monthly.

Seigel and Rush Lynch will team up again Tuesday, June 19, for the co-op's Healthy Horizons program in the from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The two plan to demonstrate how to create fruit soups and smoothies—to help keep hydrated during the summer months and at other times.

The co-op encourages those wishing to attend to pre-register, as it requires 10 participants to conduct the program.