Oil enriches the flavor of the food. But, do we really need a lot of oil to make our food tasty? Most of us use excessive amount of oil in our cooking than we actually need.
Cooking with is generally unhealthy. There are tons of ways you can cook your meal without or with a little bit of oil. Oil-free cooking will help you to reduce bad cholesterol in your blood and unhealthy body fat. I have listed 9 different creative yet simple ways you can stop using oil completely or cut the amount significantly in your cooking.
Why You Should Avoid Oil?
As stated earlier, oil enhances the taste of food. But, why you should avoid using oil? Well, oil contains as much calorie as beef. Just to give you an estimation, an average weighted person needs to run 1.2 miles just to burn 1 table spoon of cooking oil. If you are not particulary a physically active person, food cooked with oils will add huge amount of body fat in a short period of time.
It also one the major source of bad cholesterol. Oil helps to add fatty tissue in your body which can ultimately lead to artery blockage or obesity. Oil makes food heavier which can be cause stomach issues.
Moreover, there are tons of different techniques to prepare food without using oil. So, why don’t you just switch to a healthier option which is so simple to follow?
However, not all oils are bad. Omega-3 enriched oil that can be found in Salmon fish is very good for health. It reduces bad cholesterol from your blood at the same time increase good cholesterol.
9 Oil-Free Cooking Techniques To Reduce Daily Oil Intake
Use Vegetable Stock
Food dries out quickly while frying or baking without oil. To prevent the dryness just use a small amount of vegetable stock in your pan. You need to cover the pan while baking most of the time of your cooking. This method works great with baking papers and silicone pans.
Use Not-Stick Cooking Ware
The reason we use a lot of oil while cooking is just to keep the food away from sticking in our pans. You can solve this problem quite easily, just replace your regular pans and pots with Not-Stick cooking wares. Non-stick pans prevent food from sticking and require less amount of oil.
Use an Air Fryer
Frying food without oil may seem impossible. Thanks to the new technological innovation Air Fryer, that enables frying food without using oil. This is amazing, especially if you are a chicken fry addict like me, but also want to have healthier green diet. Air Fryer uses circulated hot air technology to fry food without oil. This innovative piece of cooking appliance keeps the fried food as crispy and juicy as traditional oily fry.
Vegetable Broth Stir-Frying
You can saute your vegetables in different ways without using oil. This stir-frying technique works perfectly with just a little bit of vegetable broth. Use very small amount if broth or water when start sautéing. Add little bit more when you need. Most of the Asian cuisines are cooked with this stir-frying method. You can also use a bit of Soya sauce with vegetable broth to make it spicy.
Making Dessert with Whole Food Substances
Most of the baking recipes need using oil. However, you can bake your dessert without using oil. Instead of oil you may use food substances. You can make your dessert healthier by not using oil at all. Use banana mash, zucchini or carrot grates to make you dessert even healthier and nutritious.
Oil-Free Salad Dressing
Admit it, dressing makes salads tasty and appealing. Though, using too much oil in your salad dressing can be counterproductive as it will make the salad heavier. You can dress your salads without oil. Instead of using oil, you can use vinegar to get that tangerine taste from your salad. Alternatively, you can also use vinegar-based sauces with different flavor to enhance the flavors.
Steam your Food
Steaming is another fantastic way to reduce using oil for cooking. Steamed food retains the flavor and nutrition intact as well as make the food lighter. You can steam your food simply using water or vegetable stocks. While steaming, add sprinkle of black pepper to boost the savor.
Use Parchment Paper for Baking & Roasting
If you do not have Not-stick cookware you can use parchment paper for baking and roasting. Parchment papers are non-sticky, so that you don’t necessarily need to add oil for baking or roasting.
Other Alternatives
If you don’t want to skip adding oil to your food completely, I strongly recommend you using extra virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oil instead of general cooking oil. Rice bran oil is another great alternative as it takes less oil for cooking.
Try to avoid palm oil or any kind of unsaturated oil for cooking. These oils are extremely dangerous for your health.
In closing:
Using less oil or cooking an entire meal oil free may sound difficult at first. However, if you follow those 9 tips I listed above you can reduce your oil intake significantly. Being used to with less oily food might not be a pleasing experience in the beginning. However, your taste buds will adjust with this in just after few weeks.
Trust me, you will be able to taste more flavors in your food than before if you stick to non-oily cooking. This will improve your immune system and make you feel lighter and energetic.
Do you have any particular oil-free cooking recipe in your mind that you want to share and recommend with us? Please share that in the comment section below. Spread the love!
