• Courtesy of Tulsi Tea Room
• Dishes from Tulsi Tea Room in Montpelier

In August 2016, owner Solenne Thompson closed Tulsi Tea Room in Montpelier to attend nursing school. While Grian Herbs now fills that space, Thompson has a new business, Tulsi Take Home Meals. Around the holidays, she started selling her vegetarian soup, curry and dal as take-home meals packaged in mason jars.

"I'm almost done with school, and I want to keep cooking," Thompson said. "I base my menu ingredients on what I can get from farmers in the area."

She takes weekly preorders via email (sign up at tulsitearoom.com) from her customers, who swap their empty jars for full ones each Saturday. Soup and dal run about $5 per pint or $10 per quart; veggie curry is a touch more expensive.

When she graduates in May, Thompson hopes to use her new skills to expand her food business. She'll focus on preparing healing foods geared toward customers' medical needs, such as "a postpartum meal package with delivery," she said, or packages tailored to support people who have cancer or hypothyroidism. "My role is supportive," said Thompson, who plans to "try to add a diversity of nutrients and pack extra things into a single meal. It's kind of a Meals on Wheels idea."