Wegmans Stirs Up Veggies

In an effort to encourage shoppers to make healthier food choices by offering easy ways to eat better, Wegmans Food Markets has developed a new cooking technique for vegetables. Dubbed “pan-simmering,” the method involves stir-frying and a quick braise of vegetables, with the addition of a burst of flavor, in the form of refrigerated simmer sauces from the produce department, toward the end of cooking. Using the technique, a home cook can prepare fresh vegetables in under 15 minutes.

“Today’s families are looking for ways to get a tasty, healthy meal on the table quickly -- especially on busy weeknights,” said Russell Ferguson, executive chef for culinary development at Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans, as well as a busy father of four boys. “Pan-simmering fits the need for speed perfectly. One bag of cleaned-and-cut fresh vegetables, one bottle of simmer sauce, one pot. With cleaned-and-cut vegetables, we’ve done the prep, and pan-simmering is a fast-cooking method, so it’s ready very quickly.” Ferguson shows shoppers how it’s done in an online video.

The grocer also offers veggie-and-flavor combos on its website and the 2012 issue of Wegmans Menu magazine. According to Ferguson, “We’re working on new combinations all the time, which customers will see arriving in coming months in our stores.”

Family-owned Wegmans operates 79 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.