Beyond Olive Oil - Using Flavored Gourmet Oils

Perhaps you were given one of these oils—sometimes called artisan—as a gift and now wonder how best to use it. These oils can be impressive! Here are some ways to work them into your cooking:

Match oil flavor to recipe ingredient

• If you have avocado oil, for example, use it for the oil in recipes using avocado like Grilled Margarita Chicken Salad or Caribbean Chicken and Black Bean Salad.
  
  
• If you have sweet basil or garlic oil, use one in the pesto sauce when making Crab Cakes Italiano.
  
  
• See how walnut oil bumps up the nutty taste in the salad dressing for Roquefort and Toasted Walnut Salad.
  
  
• Roasted peanut oil for the vegetable oil gives more peanutty taste to what you like about Asian Noodle Bowl and Crunchy Chicken Salad.

Substitute

• Splash oil on cooked fresh vegetables instead of butter or margarine.
  
  
• Liven the flavor of rice, pilaf or stuffing mixes with flavored oil rather than butter or margarine.
• Stir into plain ol’ mashed potatoes!
  
  
• Give Betty Crocker® pasta salad mix pizzazz by switching from plain vegetable oil when you make it. Here’s one to try: Dijon Chicken and Pasta Salad.

Use it up, make it easy, save the calories

• Need a way to use some extra-virgin olive oil?  Here are three good ideas: Cheese-Filled Tortellini Salad, Greek Quesadillas and Pizza Margherita.
  
  
• No fresh basil?  Or garlic?  Let a flavored oil come to the rescue when you make appetizers like Crostini or salad like Penne Pasta and Fresh Tomatoes.
  
  
• Low-fat cooking strategies sometimes use cooking spray to reduce amount of fat in a recipe. Here’s one to give you a start: Southwest Fettuccine Bowl.