olive oil

[Rabbit]

you definitely want a good quality olive oil - but a good one tastes just great, and I've never noticed a particularly unpleasant smell to it.

My husband (the big cook in the house, heh heh) uses olive oil in marinades for our chicken, pork or beef. Tastes wonderful.

[ciecie]

olive oil-ummmm ummmm good! one of the restaurants i like to go adds balsamic vinegar to it. really adds some zest to the flavor.

[ciecie]

have to agree. use it in moderation.

[r-D]

How do you add olive oil to your diet? Do you use it as a replacement for another oil?

The 'type' is important (as mentioned you want 'extra virgin Olive Oil, the first pressing). Preferrably fresh enough that you can sniff a slightly 'fruity' smell when you open the bottle. I buy mine in 3-liter tins or bottles, keep that stored in the fridge and for handy use: I warm that up enough to use to refill a 1-liter glass olive oil bottle from time to time which is kept in a cupboard. [a liter is ~1.1 U.S. quarts or 0.9 Cdn quarts). I probably consume 3 or 4 gallons of e.v. olive oil per year.

You're right, you'd not 'add' olive oil to your diet, you'd use it as a replacement (for margarine/butter). Now, it's not so great as a cooking oil as it has too low a smoke point. I use Sunflower Oil for popcorn popping, and drizzle some e.v. olive oil onto the popped popcorn. (I also use a hot air popcorn popper at times.)

As a replacement, if you were dropping some animal products (to reduce your saturated fat intake and 'empty' calories from excess protein intake, and well, not so healthy trace components perhaps), you'd still need some fat/oil in your diet (10-30% of your calorie intake, usually) so you could for example: drizzle a tablespoon or two's worth onto a serving of brown rice. That, along with some legumes (peas or beans), can then supply ample protein for our needs with a minimal calorie load, along with a lot of plant 'micronutrients' (which go way beyond 'multi-vitamin pills).

rD

[ciecie]

a restaurant i used to go to uses it as a replacement for butter when they serve you bread.

[Tess3]

Yea, that is good, Ciecie. I like to dip pita's in olive oil that I've added herbs to.

a restaurant i used to go to uses it as a replacement for butter when they serve you bread.

I like to use olive oil for everything these days that calls for oil. I cook with it and use it as a butter replacement, although I never have used a lot of butter.

For awhile I was into sunflower oil but they don't sell it here anymore, also it isn't as great as olive oil.

[ciecie]

that's a bummer that they don't sell sunflower oil where you live anymore. olive oil is better.