Tip 9 - Oil is Not a Healthy Fat

As I have improved, I have been eliminating oil.  Olive oil was an ingredient in many of my recipes and I am working to edit those.  I prefer not to cook with oil anymore.

Some oils, like olive oil, are advertised as health foods. But, NO - oil is NOT healthy, not even coconut oil, flaxseed oil, or olive oil. Oil is purely fat (with all other nutrients stripped away) and contains more calories per gram than any other food.


  • Within hours of ingesting oil—olive oil, corn oil, palm oil, etc.—arteries stiffen and their ability to dilate is impaired.  Any processed oil can injure the endothelium, which is the innermost lining of the artery and the gateway to heart disease.  See Video - Olive Oil and Artery Function - NutritionFacts
  • The Mediterranean Diet is healthy in spite of olive oil- not because of it. The lowered heart attack risk on this diet is due to the high consumption of whole plant foods rather than the addition of olive oil. See Video -  Why Olive Oil Isn’t a Health Food. - Forks Over Knives
  • The plaque that builds up in our arteries causing arterial lesions and blockages can only be cleared up by reducing total fat intake, not by choosing different "better" kinds of fats.
  • By age 10, almost all kids have fatty streaks in their arteries which is the first sign of atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the United States. Most of us should be eating for the purpose of reversing the heart disease that we likely already have.
  • Coconut oil is 90% saturated fat, and lard is 40%.
  • One tablespoon of oil has 120 calories and 14 grams of fat.
  • A 130 lb woman would have to jog approximately 1.2 miles to burn off 1 tablespoon of oil.
NOTE - My explanation is brief.  I really do suggest you watch the videos linked about to get a better explanation!


Cooking Without Oil - tips gathered from numerous sources:

Choose the Right Cookware

It’s extremely easy to cook without oil using nonstick pots and pans, because the food doesn’t stick. If you want to avoid Teflon, then use a good-quality, heavy-bottomed stainless steel pan. Enamel-coated cast iron and ceramic titanium pans are also good options.


Sauté

Replace the oil in sautéing with a small amount of vegetable broth, tamari/coconut aminos, water or wine. Water is really fine.  Heat the skillet first!  That's major, especially with things like onions!  The onions will stick if you put them in a cool pan and then turn on the heat.  After the pan is hot, add a small amount of liquid, about a tablespoon to start with, depending on how much you are cooking. Also, remember to toss and stir the food periodically with a wooden spoon so that it doesn’t burn.  To cook the food and absorb the liquid faster, cover the pan with a lid or leave uncovered to cook slower.

The key to this method is to add whichever liquid you're choosing a few teaspoons at a time. Just enough to release some steam and keep things from getting stuck to the pan, but not so much that the vegetables are sitting in a puddle. The pan should be hot enough that the liquid you add boils away somewhat quickly, but never turn the heat higher than medium-high to protect your pan from heat damage. Once it boils away completely, add another very small splash of liquid and stir things around to free them up again. Repeat this process until your food is fully cooked.

Note that things won't always brown as much when using this method vs. when using oil. If you want to something to brown or char slightly, let all of the liquid evaporate from the pan, or don't use any liquid in the first place, then let the food cook in the dry pan while watching carefully to see when it browns. Once it browns, you can add a very small amount liquid to the pan stop it from overcooking and burning or remove it from the pan entirely depending on the recipe.

Consider the temperature of the pan. Too much liquid added in during cooking time will cool down the pan and greatly slow down the cooking speed, so be sure to add as little as possible. Or if you accidentally add too much, adjust the temperature so it can boil again and evaporate away.


Caramelize

Caramelizing vegetables such as onions and garlic brings out the natural sweetness and is traditionally achieved by adding a fat. However, start with a heated pan (nonstick pan works best) then add just a small amount of liquid, allowing it to evaporate while lightly browning the vegetables. A tip to caramelize an onion is to add a pinch of salt, which draws out the moisture of the onion, and then it evaporates to provide a sweet, caramelized effect.


Bake or Roast

PREVENT STICKING

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Parchment paper can tolerate temperatures up to 425 degrees; however, check the package for specific brand recommendations. Just be careful not to get the paper too close to the burners at high heat.

Another trick to get your veggies to brown more is to use a glass baking dish with no parchment paper at all, just place the chopped veggies right on the glass. This will help them to get slightly more brown than if you used parchment paper.  Cooking directly on the glass will cause certain vegetables to stick more than when using parchment paper, so they require a bit more care and attention. Checking on them every 5 minutes and stirring them around so they don't sit in one spot on the glass for too long will help prevent anything from getting too stuck.

COAT

Use another liquid to get the spices to stick to what you're roasting. Lightly mist vegetables using a bottle sprayer with:
  • water
  • vegetable broth
  • Leftover liquid from steaming vegetables, a.k.a. pot liquor such as from steamed beets, potatoes, greens, etc.
  • tamari (low sodium)
  • coconut aminos
  • a light water-soy sauce mixture
  • maple syrup
  • mustard
  • vinegar,  such as apple cider vinegar or balsamic
No spray bottle?  You can also brush it on using a basting brush right before they go in the oven.

These are the glass spray bottles recommended by Wholesomely Elle


Then sprinkle with spices and herbs for seasoning before roasting.

While these liquid oil-substitutes wont prevent stuff from sticking to the pan (that's what parchment paper is for!) and they will evaporate over the cooking time, they still add in a bit of moisture to help prevent things from drying out while roasting and impart a really nice flavor.

It's also been nice to have a reason to save my cooking broth rather than pour it down the drain, especially when I make a nice salty broth and use lots of flavorful fresh herbs. These cooking liquids are so much more flavorful than most oils. 


SPREAD OUT

Give them some room to breathe and don't overcrowd the pan- this should help them to get more brown and crispy.

BAKE LOW AND SLOW

Oil-free roasted veggies will brown on their own in the oven, but to avoid drying out, roast them low and slow.  They might take a little longer, but they will eventually brown and roast nicely.  For something super crispy like French fries or zucchini chips, finish the last few minutes by turning the temp higher.  

There are many factors that would affect the cooking times and temperatures for different vegetables, such as if the carrots are kept whole or chopped, or if the asparagus is thin or thick, so it's hard to give a specific cooking time, but for the temperature, most chopped veggies do well at 375 degrees F. The starchy ones like carrots and potatoes take about 20 minutes. Asparagus and broccolini require a little less time, maybe 12-15 minutes depending on their size.



Stir

Stir the roasted vegetables around a bit about half way through the cooking time, to ensure they don't get stuck to the pan if you're not using parchment paper or other non-stick surface. This will also help them to cook evenly.

There's no need to add more liquid if roasting. The time to add liquid as you cook is mostly done when cooking on the stovetop to keep things from sticking to the pan, but on a silpat or parchment paper in the oven, this shouldn't be an issue.



Steaming

Steaming is a basic and simple way to cook without adding fat, while retaining the important nutrients, color and flavor. You can use an electric steamer or a steamer basket in a pot with a small amount of water over a medium heat. Bring water to a simmer for just long enough to cook and steam food depending on your recipe or desired texture.


Baking

Some baked dessert recipes call for cups full of oil. When this happens there are many options for replacements.  You can use a fruit purée as a healthy (and delicious!) substitute for fats like oil, butter, or shortening. Some favorites include  -

  • applesauce
  • mashed bananas
  • nut butters
  • dairy-free yogurts
  • puréed dates
  • puréed sweet potatoes
  • puréed pumpkin or butternut squash
  • In some instances, nut flour or nut butters can serve as substitutions or additions.



When choosing an oil replacement in baking, take into consideration the recipe you're making and try to discern what the oil is being used for in that specific case (to add moisture, to add structure, etc.) . Be sure to also choose a replacement with a flavor or texture that would best suit that particular recipe.

Here's a good article on baking without oil - Shane and Simple


Deep Frying

There is a secret weapon for achieving that extra crispy texture without using oil. It’s called an air fryer.   Though this is not a required piece of equipment for a plant-based kitchen, many WFPB cooks love them.  I saw this recommended on a bunch of sites!  It's fun to have all those crispy fried foods back only this time, they have zero oil and won’t be clogging arteries or causing inflammation.

My favorite kitchen appliance by far is my Air Fryer. 
The air fryer I use and recommend is the Secura extra large capacity air fryer, because the bigger the frying basket the more evenly crispy it can get everything, even small batches.
It makes any whole plant food I put in there turn into the most crunchy and evenly crispy treat, all with no oil needed! It's very easy to use and clean, and the best part about it is you don't have to wait for it to preheat.  This device has greatly cut down on the amount of time I spend in the kitchen and it makes the best crispy tofu I've ever had.  While it's not necessary to have an air fryer to eat an oil-free diet, it certainly makes it a lot easier!
Roasted whole small carrots only take about 8 minutes in the air fryer and there's no need to preheat or even to stir since everything heats so evenly in there. I highly recommend it if you love roasting veggies and are new to oil-free cooking because it really simplifies the process.
- From Wholesomely Elle

Lately, I mostly use my air fryer to roast veggies which is much faster and makes them a lot crispier.

I looked up W.E.'s air fryer brand - it's rated 4.5 stars, but there were enough less than stellar comments early on to make me think twice.  More research is needed.

Experiment with Oil-Free Condiments

Sauces—For dishes that normally use butter or heavy cream, you can create plant-based versions by puréeing beans, lentils, or vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, or potatoes, along with nut or soymilk, nutritional yeast, miso, and/or nut butter.

Salad dressings—For tasty oil-free salad dressing, you can whisk or blend some vinegar, spices, and herbs with fruit juice and a bit of pulp (for sweet dressings), or with nut or seed butter (to add a little creaminess to savory dressings).  One of my new favorite dressing additions is pureed white beans.  I have several recipes on this site!


Sources:


Special Note About Aquafaba 
Aquafaba is the watery stuff left over from cooked or canned beans. There are plenty of ways people use this in cooking and baking. It can be used as an egg replacer, a moist ingredient in baking, an oil substitute and more. I've used it when trying a few recipes, but was always a bit unsure of whether it really was a good thing. Beans can be a challenge to my digestive system, but when I soak them and rinse them numerous times, it helps. Additionally, I drain the cooking liquid off after cooking. The stuff that causes bloating is released into the liquid. So, using the liquid seemed wrong, even more so in beans from a can. With so many people touting it's glory, I was unsure. This article put me firmly back trusting my intuition.
Post - 6 Reasons to Avoid Aquafaba from The Healthy Home Economist

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