Cooking Healthy With Oil

There are several oils for healthy cooking. One of the best is olive oil. It has a high smoke point and does not break down quickly as some other types of oils do. When cooking with olive oil it will not lose its health benefits so it is a good oil to use in salad dressings and for cooking with. Extra virgin olive is the best in terms of nutritional value and health benefits. It is good for your heart too.

There are different types of olive oil extra virgin is the best and the least processed from the first pressing of olives. The next type is virgin olive oil which is from the second pressing of olives. Pure olive oil goes through processing and refining and extra light undergoes the most processing of all of the kinds.

When looking for a healthy oil to cook with look at the type of fats it has. Mono saturated fats reduce the level of what is known as bad cholesterol. The oils that have a high level of this fat are olive oil, canola oil and peanut oil. Poly unsaturated fats with omega 3 and 6 are considered healthy fats too. These oils are corn, soybean, safflower, and grape seed. Other good choices for cooking are walnut and flax seed oil. If you are going to do cooking that requires high heat choose peanut or sunflower oil for searing and frying. Oils that are good for baking, sauting and stir frying are grape seed, safflower or sunflower oil.

Olive oil is rich in vitamins like E which is a powerful anti oxidant. Store the oil in a bottle made of dark glass or a stainless steel container. The container should be air tight because the oil reacts with air and becomes rancid. Olive oil has many uses like drizzling it on salad and bread, using it to make homemade condiments, brushing it on meat and poultry, adding it to soup and stews, on potatoes and vegetables. The flavor is very good.

Instead of sauting your vegetables you might want to steam them then add olive oil or another cooking oil for flavor. Broiling, grilling, roasting, and baking meat brushed with oil is healthier than frying and sauting. You can buy a brush and put your favorite oil in a small dish then brush it on meats, fish and poultry quickly just before cooking. You can drizzle oil on vegetables, rice and pasta dishes.

Canola oil is another healthy oil for cooking. It is easy to find on00000ED2 most supermarket shelves. It is low in saturated fats produced from canola plants not rapeseed plants. Store canola oil in a cool dark place when not using it. It is good for frying as the flavor does not overpower the food fried. It goes well in salad dressings and mixes well with other ingredients. It does not separate so the salad dressing or sauce remains consistent. It is healthy oil to be used in baking. Instead of using butter on bread pour your favorite healthy oil on it. When you bake substitute oil for butter you reduce fat about 25 percent.

Candis Reade is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about cooking with healthy oil, please visit Cooking For Your Health for current articles and discussions.

Cooking lessons
Artisan Mixer