PLANT-BASED PRACTICE: Seek out hidden oils in your diet by reading labels and replace dressings, sauces and snacks with oil-free versions and plant-based foods. Try sautéing with broth or water instead of oil, baking tortillas without oil, and using substitutes in baking.
It’s hard to imagine a diet without oil and added fat. Most of us are used to sautéing with oil in cooking, slathering our salads with oil-based dressings and buttering bread with butter or margarine. I was the same. Before I took on cooking without oil I never thought it could be done, and done deliciously. Now I never think about it and the oil-free skills are second-nature. Best of all, the flavor of foods and spices POP, when not masked with oil. So give your taste buds a de-greaser simply by changing habits. Switch to oil-free dressings, sauté and stir-fry using water or broth, and find substitutes for baking with added fat.
Here are a few tips that I have picked up along the way:
Splash a bit of broth, a flavored vinegar, soy sauce, wine, juice, or any liquid instead of using oil to stir-fry or sauté, and make sure there is enough liquid to keep from burning as you cook.
Use parchment paper or a non-stick baking sheet or pan for roasting and baking. I don’t use any pan preparation for baking and never have a sticking problem. Glass baking and roasting pans are good for this.
On the stovetop, make sure there is enough water in the bottom of the pan to keep from sticking or burning
Substitute bananas, flax meal or tofu in baking
Use mashed bananas, soaked dried fruit or chopped fruit instead of jams on bread
Here are some oil substitutes for salad dressings:
1 Tblsp ground flax seeds mixed with 1/3 C water
1 ½ tblsp arrowroot mixed with 1 cup cold water, whisked, then gently heated in a pan until just boiled.
1 can drained artichoke hearts, packed in water, whizzed in a blender
Unsweetened soymilk, if you want a creamy-ish replacement
Mashed avocado
PLANT-BASED PRACTICE: Seek out hidden oils in your diet by reading labels and replace dressings, sauces and snacks with oil-free versions and plant-based foods. Try sautéing with broth or water instead of oil, baking tortillas without oil, and using substitutes in baking.
It’s hard to imagine a diet without oil and added fat. Most of us are used to sautéing with oil in cooking, slathering our salads with oil-based dressings and buttering bread with butter or margarine. I was the same. Before I took on cooking without oil I never thought it could be done, and done deliciously. Now I never think about it and the oil-free skills are second-nature.