How to cook without oil (and without losing flavor)

Follow one plant-based diet It does not only mean eliminating products derived from animals such as meat, fish, eggs, milk and its derivatives. It also implies assess the quality and nutritional value of the food we eat.

In fact, consuming an exclusive diet of chips and Oreo cookies does make you vegan, but not for that reason healthy, much less well-nourished.

We seek a complete diet, without processed or refined foods, and among them, however “shocking” it may be, are vegetable oils. Yes yes, vegetable oils: from palm oil, through coconut oil and ending with olive oil.

You will be surprised if I tell you that…

Gram for gram, oil has the same number of calories as beef fat. Coconut oil is 90% saturated fat and pork fat is 40%. A tablespoon of oil has 120 calories and 14 grams of fat. Within a few hours of consuming vegetable oil of any kind (corn, olive, sunflower…), the arteries harden and their ability to dilate is limited.

This is not to say that a plant-based diet is fat-free. Because our body needs fats indisputably to work well.

Virtually all of our brain is made of fat. Similarly, cell membranes are made of lipid components (phospholipids) and our hormones also need them.

The fats that our body needs can be perfectly found in whole plant-based foods. Between the whole plant foods high in fat There are, for example, olives, walnuts, hazelnuts, flax seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, avocados, and even legumes and green leafy vegetables.

Learn to cook without oil

In this blog post, I share with you some tricks to eliminate vegetable oils in your culinary preparations.

It may seem impossible to you the idea of ​​cooking without oil, but the truth is that once you put some of the following tricks into practice, it is the easiest and most comfortable. You will see how as soon as you get used to it you will immediately notice the difference when you eat a dish where a lot of oil has been used. You will notice it greasy and you will feel heavy.

Something that can help you a lot is the kitchen utensils you use. Make a rethink and think about investing in nonstick cookware.

It is true that they have a higher cost, but if we take care of them, they can last us for a long time. Some options are heavy-bottomed stainless steel skillets, enamel-coated cast iron, or ceramic titanium skillets. Always wash them by hand so that the coverage is not damaged and jump ahead of time.

The silicone molds and supports for cooking in the oven are good options to prevent food from sticking when we are roasting vegetables or baking desserts. Using baking paper is also a good option, but less environmentally sustainable.

Depending on the type of cooking…

Skip: believe it or not, when we sauté vegetables we can perfectly use water or vegetable broth instead of oil. The secret is to use small amounts, adding only 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Do it frequently and as many times as you need to get to cooking and browning the ingredients. Stir the vegetables so they don’t burn. Bake: Making fluffy and delicious cookies, cakes and pastries is relatively easy. Some oil substitutes are applesauce or puree, mashed banana, or date or pumpkin puree. Roast: Vegetables will brown on their own if you leave them in the oven and cook them at a low temperature and with time. It is good to moisten the vegetables with water or vegetable broth using a spray bottle and sprinkle some spices or aromatic herbs on them before starting to roast. To make them crispier, you can finish the last few minutes by turning on the oven gratin option.

Once you get used to applying these techniques you will see that it is very easy to cook without oils vegetables. The food is delicious and your arteries, stomach and general health will thank you.