Learning to cook with no oil is key when transitioning and maintaining a whole food plant-based lifestyle. That’s right, NO OIL! There is no such thing as a healthy oil, no matter what the food industry tells you!!! While I’m going to show you how you’re going to saute without oil, I also am going to explain why oil is not healthy. This is soooo important to understand, I wish every vegan would read this because a traditional vegan diet is soooo unhealthy.

Within our innermost lining of all blood and lymph vessels and heart is our endothelium. Far more than a simple membrane, the endothelium is actually the body’s single largest endocrine organ. If you were to lay out flat all your endothelial cells one cell thick, they would cover an area equal to two tennis courts. This lining, if healthy, is strong and elastic, allowing a smooth, unobstructed flow of blood through them. But when you consume fat and oil, your endothelium begins to change. Gradually, the endothelium, the white blood cells, and the platelets…the blood cells that cause clotting, all become sticky. Eventually, a white blood cell adheres to and eventually penetrates the endothelium and all hell breaks loose with your white blood cells. They become engorged with bad cholesterol and eventually form a bubble of fatty pus…also known as plaque, the chief characteristic of atherosclerosis. As the plaque enlarges, by feeding it more fat and oil, the arteries severely narrow and sometimes become blocked. A significantly narrowed artery cannot give the heart muscle a normal blood supply, causing chest pain, or angina. Strong scientific evidence indicates most heart attacks occur when younger and smaller fatty plaques rupture their outer lining, or cap, and bleed into the coronary artery. So think of your endothelial lining as a layer of velcro, when you run healthy blood through the sticky side of velcro, the blood will flow through smoothly. Now think about that sticky side of velcro again but this time we’ll run unhealthy blood with fat/oil through it. The blood doesn’t flow smoothly because remember as mentioned above, those unhealthy blood cells are also sticky and get captured and collect fatty oil on those sticky fibers of the velcro over time, eventually causing blockages. You can take statins to reduce the production of cholesterol inside the liver or you can change your diet by eliminating fat and oil to reverse existing buildup of plaque and avoid future build up. But how? It’s quite simple, by eating a whole food plant-based diet rich in whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit. But what about the oil in the Mediterranean style diet promoted as heart healthy? Well, nothing could be further from the truth according to Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. “They are not healthy. Between 14 and 17 percent of olive oil is saturated, artery-clogging fat - every bit as aggressive in promoting heart disease as the saturated fat in roast beef. And even though a Mediterranean-style diet that allows such oils may slow the rate of progression of coronary artery disease, when compared with diets even higher in saturated fat, it DOES NOT ARREST THE DISEASE AND REVERSE ITS EFFECTS”. If I’ve caught your attention and you would like to learn more on this subject I highly recommend reading Dr. Esselstyn’s book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease available on Amazon.

So now that I’ve enlightened you on why you should avoid fat and oil, let’s dig into how you’re going to transform your cooking and baking void of oil, without sacrificing flavor. The following are a few simple techniques you can use to cook, saute, caramelize, and bake without using added fats such as oil or butter.

Cooking Without Oil

Tools

1. Have a quality non-stick pan. Scanpan is just one brand that makes excellent, higher quality environmentally friendly, nonstick pans that prevent sticking without oil, while evenly distributing heat.

2. A good quality baking sheet.

3. Parchment paper, not only does it prevent sticking, it makes clean-up a breeze.

4. Silicone baking mat, these are a dream. Trust me on this and purchase one and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Nothing sticks to these!

5. Spray bottle. I really should patent this idea. Place a liquid mixture in your bottle, 1/4 cup or so. Liquid recommendations include, vegetable stock, water, red or white wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos. You can use any of these straight as is or you can create your own flavor combination.

6. Season your vegetables prior to any of these methods with fresh or dried herbs and spices or a Mrs. Dash type herb blend.

How To

Saute

You’ll replace the oil in sauteing with a small amount of vegetable stock, water or wine. Heat the skillet first on medium-high heat, then add a tablespoon or so of water and then add your vegetables and let them cook for a minute stirring every so often. If the liquid evaporates, add an additional tablespoon of liquid and continue to cook and stir so your vegetables cook evenly. If you want to cook the food faster, cover the pan with a lid and stir them ever couple of minutes until cooked to desired doneness. As an alternative to adding water a tablespoon at a time, you can use your spray bottle with vegetable stock, water, balsamic vinegar, or wine added, and mist your vegetables. Use this saute method when stir frying vegetables in a wok.

Caramelize

Caramelizing vegetables such as onions and garlic brings out the natural sweetness. Begin with a heated pan over medium-high heat (non-stick pan works best or a well seasoned cast iron skillet). Add the vegetables. Then add a very small amount of liquid, allowing it to evaporate while lightly browning the vegetables. Add an additional very small amount of water, stir vegetables and continue to do this until you have the desired caramelization. A tip to caramelizing 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. Again, as an alternative to adding water a little bit at a time, you can use your spray bottle with vegetable stock, water or wine added, and mist your vegetables.

Roast or Bake

To roast or bake without adding oil, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat to prevent sticking. Check the temperature tolerance on each of these items so you don’t exceed the recommended maximum temperature and start a fire in your oven! Once again mist and season the vegetables as desired. Place vegetables in the oven at 425F for approximately 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetables. Stir vegetables every 10 minutes for even cooking and browning and mist again if they appear to be drying out.

There you have it. You can now successfully saute, caramelize, roast or bake without the use of harmful oils. Your endothelium will thank you!