Olive Oil

Olive oil has a reputation for being one of the healthiest oils to eat and cook with, but recently, coconut oil is gaining the same support within the health community. With each having their own benefits in the kitchen, here's a guide on deciding which oil is best for your healthy cooking needs.

When compared nutritionally, both coconut and olive oil contain 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per one-tablespoon serving; the significant difference being that coconut oil contains more saturated fat, primarily lauric acid. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting daily fat intake to 25 to 35 percent of total calories consumed, and saturated fat to less than seven percent. If you're going to eat saturated fat (especially if you have a history of heart issues or high cholesterol), limit your intake, and choose sources like dairy products or meat that also offer protein, calcium, and iron.

Wait a second — what about all the claims that coconut oil can cure obesity, cancer, and thyroid disease, lower your cholesterol, and boost your immune system? That's just it, these amazing health benefits are just claims. Presently, there have been no large studies to support the benefits associated with using coconut oil in meals, and the health and medical communities remain divided. Until more evidence comes out, you may want to wait before cooking everything with coconut oil (but because of its higher smoke point, it might work well in certain instances). When possible, choose a bottle of heart-healthy olive oil. The main type of fat found in all types of olive oil is monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), which offer proven health benefits including lowering cholesterol, which reduces the risk of heart disease.

If you're vegan, coconut oil does make a great substitution for butter since it gives baked goods that same flaky, rich consistency and taste. But since it contains slightly more calories (20 more per tablespoon), it doesn't exactly give you the go-ahead to devour an entire plate of just-baked vegan cookies.

Source: Flickr User Veganbaking.net

You may use olive oil in your cooking every day, but how much do you really know about it?

If you're like me, the answer is not much, as I discovered after attending a dinner held by Olive Oil From Spain. At the event, I had the opportunity to taste a number of olive varietals, from arbequina (buttery and delicate) and cornicabra (zesty) to hojiblanca (bitter almond) and picual (grassy), that showed off the oil's wide flavor range. But I also learned something else: until this point, I've been misinformed when it comes to olive oil. Here are four facts about olive oil that might surprise you.

Picture this: salty, creamy feta cheese, marinated in fruity olive oil, layered with onions, oregano, and peppercorns. It's basically a party in a jar. This feta cheese gift makes for the perfect unique hostess gift or holiday gift for a food-loving friend. The feta can be served with bread and olives as an appetizer or as a flavorful addition to salad. I brought a jar of this flavorful feta into the office with a fresh baguette, and it was all gone in less than 30 minutes. The bold flavors of the feta, oil, onions, and oregano complement each other deliciously.

Package your marinated feta in a small mason jar and tie a festive bow around it. Label your jar so people know what's inside and be prepared for them to ask for more next year. It's just that good. Do you want to know how to make it? Here's the recipe!

I recently read Peggy Knickerbocker's mouthwatering book Olive Oil: From Tree to Table, and I was completely blown away by all of the things I learned about my very favorite ingredient.

As it turns out, there is so much that goes into the processing of olive oil, and we should be rather selective in choosing our oils. Here are a few interesting facts:

• Olive trees thrive in Mediterranean climates, and therefore in locations such as Spain, North Africa, Italy, Greece, and California.
• The term "cold-pressed" olive oil signifies that no heat was applied during the pressing process.
• Any olive oil not labeled "extra-virgin" is a combination of extra-virgin oils and refined virgin oils. This blend of oils is best for any cooking process that requires high heat and doesn't need the distinct flavor of olive oil.

For more helpful tidbits on this common cooking ingredient, keep reading.

Although I try to eat a well-balanced healthy diet, I often feel a little lacking in the veggie department — do you? Bland foods bore my palate and I find some veggies a little on the dull side. If the lack of flavor is your issue, here are some easy, clever ways to spruce up your veggies for snacks or mealtime.

Keep reading to learn how.

Chances are high you use olive oil regularly, but do you know how to best reap its health benefits? Recent studies confirm the numerous benefits of a Mediterranean diet, a diet focused on healthy fats largely sourced from olive oil. To find out how to get the most from this prized oil, I sat down with Laurent Halasz, olive oil expert and the owner of Fig and Olive, the celebrated Mediterranean and French Riviera-inspired eatery with locations in New York and Los Angeles (where the president recently dined!) to get the scoop.

Better Than Butter
Laurent suggests using olive oil instead of butter while cooking, especially as a finishing step by drizzling the oil on your dish. Drizzle it on everything, even on the most unexpected choices such as desserts — I can vouch that it's surprisingly delicious mixed with sweets!

Taste Trumps Color
When asked whether flavor or color matters more for identifying healthful oils, he notes that the health benefit of the oil comes from the level of natural antioxidants, or polyphenols. Laurent explains that "a high polyphenol content can be identified when we taste the olive oil and it creates an assertive, peppery astringency in the back of the throat and makes us cough. A bitter, unpleasant or flat olive oil usually indicates an oil that has oxidized and has low antioxidant content."

Keep on reading to learn more about olive oil.

Summer's quickly drawing to a close, but that doesn't have to mean the end of smoky flavors. I recently discovered a useful product, enFuso, that doesn't require hours with a smoker to achieve woodsy flavors in meat or vegetables.

This smoke-infused, extra-virgin olive oil starts with Spanish arbequina olives from California's Capay Valley; they're hand harvested in small batches and infused with a blend of different wood types in a temperature-controlled smoker.

I tried the Robust Smoke variety, and I especially loved sautéing white fish, then serving it with a lemon, caper, white wine, and enFuso-flavored sauce. I envisioned using it to add a hale and hearty quality to roasted potatoes, pizza, hummus, popcorn, and stir-frys.

I can't wait to celebrate the Fall and fast-approaching cold weather by experimenting with this smoke-infused oil. Have you ever tried something similar?

Often, cooking at home is healthier than dining out. But if you're not careful, cooking with too much oil can lead to a lot of added calories (more than 100 per tablespoon for many oils; read this for our full nutritional breakdown of different types of oils) and fat. While cooking with oils can be beneficial — many contain healthy monounsaturated fats that help lower your cholesterol — if you want to keep that calorie count down, here are some suggestions for how to cook with less oil.

Stick to recipe quantities. If you're following a healthy recipe with nutritional information, stick to the measurements laid out in the recipe. While you may think it's easy to eyeball oil quantities, you may not realize just how many tablespoons you're using if you don't use measuring spoons.

Use a nonstick pan. Searing meats and sauteing vegetables are easier to do sans too much oil if you have a good nonstick pan. Just make sure you don't heat your pan higher than 500 degrees Fahrenheit (leave it on low to medium-high heat) in order to prevent releasing toxic fumes from the nonstick coating.

Spray it on. For adding a finishing touch of oil to dishes, use an oil mister instead of a heavy-handed pour from the oil bottle.

Read on for more suggestions for cooking with less oil.

Not all fats are bad for you; in fact, incorporating healthy fats into your diet can actually be good for you! The general rule of thumb is that good fats are liquid at room temperature and bad fats are solid at room temperature. Therefore, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats fall into the good fats category, while saturated and trans fats fall into the bad fats category. Unlike saturated fats, monounsaturated fats help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, while boosting your HDL (good) cholesterol. Dietary fat is also good for us because it is one of three macronutrients that supports a number of our body's functions and provides us with energy.

Now for the fun stuff — the foods with all the healthy fats:

• Avocados: Avocados contain monounsaturated fats (and antioxidants and beta carotene too!), which is said to help enhance memory and prevent heart disease. The recommended daily intake (RDI) of fat is 65 grams and one cup of avocado contains almost one third of your fat intake for a day, about 23 grams. So it's probably best to stick with eating just a half an avocado each day.

Keep reading for more healthy fatty foods!