When you begin your whole foods plant-based journey, one of the new arts of cooking you will need to understand is the art of sauteing in water or broth, without the use of oils.
Of course, this can seem very daunting at first as we are all so used to using fat to bake and fry. It’s hard to imagine NOT using oils in your food, but it really is a much healthier way to eat, and I promise you will feel the difference both in the way you feel and your waistline once you learn the art of no oil cooking.
In this post, we will go over the difference between oils and whole fats and why you should be cooing without refined products such as these.
The Difference Between Oils and ‘Whole’ Fats
Here is where many people can come unstuck, and they wonder what the actual difference between oils and ‘whole’ fats are. Whole fats are healthier because the fat is still attached to the whole food source that contains with it all the fibres, vitamins, and minerals.
Eating the whole food (such as the whole olive, rather than the oil, or the whole orange, rather than the juice alone) is much more natural for the body to process. The human body understands whole foods and can assimilate them more effectively without potential problems arising.
When you eat a refined oil or juice, problems can arise both immediately and over time. These problems can include blood high and fast blood sugar spikes, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and a multitude of issues that can ultimately precede all these diseases. It is a minefield, and very hard to truly know the impact when it happens so slowly and over time.
Can I Still Eat Fats?
Here is the part that may seem confusing to some. You can still eat fats on your whole foods plant-based diet (though you should limit, or even completely omit them if you have a lot of healing to do, are overweight, or are addicted to food), but I’m talking whole fats. Eating raw, unsalted nuts and seeds, whole olives, avocadoes, and coconut flesh are all considered whole fats.
When you extract the oil from the coconut, olive, nut, or seed, this then turns it into a refined oil product. The oil has been removed from its fibre and nutrients, thus making it far more unnatural to the human body to work with. When you start to see things from this point of view it becomes clearer and easier to comprehend why it is best to omit, or at least drastically cut back on, refined oils.
I’m not saying that a little high quality olive oil or whole fruit juice with all the pulp included is going to hurt occasionally, but it is totally unwarranted to do these things daily when the whole food is just as available.
Are Oils Actually That Unhealthy?
This is the million-dollar question that has been batted around by Plant Based Professionals, Doctors, Nutritionists, and Scientists around ever since I began my plant-based journey. At first, I did not want to believe that I was not supposed to be cooking with my “healthful” coconut oil (believe me, I didn’t), or eating my delicious 85% cacao solids dark chocolate as a snack, but now I know different (though I do still treat myself occasionally).
However, pretty much all the Plant Based Nutritionists and Doctors agree on one thing – oils are not healthy. This is the consensus from the Godfathers of plant-based; the most famous being Dr. Cadwell Esselstyn, Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. John A. McDougall, Dr. t. Colin Campbell, and Dr. Joel Fuhrman. These prominent figures have dedicated their lives to studying diet and the human body and are probably the best qualified to answer the big “oil question”.
The general consensus is OILS ARE OUT if you want to keep excess weight off, keep your heart healthy, and your insulin levels under control. These undesirable side effects may not be the case with all oils, but certainly most of them (again it is a minefield trying to find the correct information as oils are big business), but it really does stand to reason that Mother Nature did not intend for us to eat refined products such as oils.
What Types Of Meals Can I Make Without Oil?
There is really no end to the different meals you can make without oils. In fact, there really is nothing that I used to eat before that I don’t make an oil free version of now. Granted, there are certain recipes that work better than others, but on the whole I make ALL my food oil free (not fat free) and I would never go back.
At first oil free cooking may take a little getting used to whilst your taste-buds adjust, but it’s no big deal. Once you start feeling the benefits, you won’t go back to low nutrient added oils.
Here’s some examples of meals that work best without oil:-
1. One Pot Meals
One of the easiest type of meals to make that require no oil are recipes you make in your slow cooker, pressure cooker, braiser, or casserole dish. These are easy as you just throw your ingredients in and leave to cook without any worry of sticking.
Some great examples of these ‘one pot meals’ would be: –
- Delicious soups such as our Heinz-style vegetable soup.
- This very healing and highly popular Hippocrates-style soup.
- Go robust and highly filling with this satiating yellow split pea soup (this soup is filling enough to eat as a dinner without the addition of bread or anything else).
- Try 3 bean chili soup with high protein tofu chunks if you fancy something hot and spicy but lighter than a full-on chili meal.
2. ‘Saucy’ Meals
What I mean by this is meals such as curries, chilis, soups, stews, and vegan spag bols to name just a few. These types of dishes are very saucy (not dry) and therefore require no oils to make them juicy.
Some of my favourite recipes include:-
- Braised veggies and mashed potatoes.
- Bolognese sauces such as my great textured lentil-walnut version.
- Heinz-style vegetable soup.
- Hearty and comforting Shepherdless’ Pie.
- Veggie curry soup with aromatic roasted cauliflower.
- Slow cooked BBQ beans (perfect for camping).
- Beefless stew and dumplings.
- Authentic Italian Minestrone batch soup.
3. Other Meals That Work Without Oil
Along with the great selection you already have above, there are also many fried-style foods that you can make oil free too. This may seem difficult and hard to understand how this could possibly work, but it can.
You will need to invest in a good quality non-stick frying pan for best results, but that’s a small price to pay for the benefits of oil-free cooking.
Here’s some examples of meals you may believe need oils to be tasty but don’t:-
- Creamy and delicious vegan mac ‘n’ cheese.
- Scrambled tofu and veggies (tastes just like scrambled eggs with a great texture!).
- Charred cabbage steaks with a satisfying and creamy gravy.
- Egg-free Spanish omelette (tastes exactly like an egg omelette)
- Cinnamon and maple glazed sweet potato wedges.
- Stir-fried chili-lemon broccoli.
- Delicious sticky fried onions in gravy.
- Oil-free air-fried roast potatoes.
- Chinese take- out style fried cabbage.
As you can see, there is an ABUNDANCE of food ideas ALL without added oils. The sky really is the limit and there are not many of your favourite foods that cannot be made whole foods plant based.
Experiment with some of the recipes I have given you above and you will soon master the art of oil free baking and cooking.
My Experience On A Whole Foods Plant Based Diet
Here is my two cents worth: My personal experience of giving up oil for many years now is that I feel generally better for it. I also find it much easier to keep my weight under control than I did before because oils are just empty calories that do not fill you up.
However, it took me many years to get my head around the whole not cooking with oils deal. At first my taste buds just could not adapt, but that was before I really knew what I was doing, or how to cook properly without the refined oils and still make the food tasty.
Fortunately, I now know better from trial and error and want to share this simple information with you. I really do not want you to spend years trying to work it out for yourself through trial and error when all you need really do is learn a few simple techniques that will take your whole foods plant-based cookery up a level.
For inspiration on why you should begin a plant-based diet today, please check out this list of TOP 22 healthiest plant foods and their benefits. It really will blow you away!
