Can You Cook Without Oil?

A couple of weeks ago Bacofoil® challenged me to cook without oil for a week using some of their products. They sent me a little package of healthy eating goodies, (which included a spriralizer, that I haven’t used yet, what do I do with it people?) as well as some of its Non-Stick Kitchen Foil and All-Purpose Zipper Bags.

I’m going to tell you now that I failed, because sometimes oil is just an essential part of cooking. But it did help me cut down on the oil I use massively and stop “wasting” those fat calories on oil just to stop things sticking.

It’s amazing how much the utensils and kitchen equipment you have can play a part in how healthily you eat. Non-stick foil, proper food storage so you can prep meals ahead and gadgets like smoothie makers can all make it much easier.

Now, before we start I’m going to tell you all that FAT IS NOT THE ENEMY. I have no problem with fat in my food, but what does bug me is wasting calories and macros on something that adds nothing to my enjoyment of a food and using oil when roasting vegetables and making chips is one of those things.

Here are a few things I cooked over the week without using any oil just by lining my baking tray with Bacofoil® Non-Stick Kitchen Foil.

Cous Cous with Mediterranean vegetables

This is great to eat cold as a make-ahead lunch, or I have it with dinner with breaded mozzarella.

I use frozen Mediterranean vegetables, and it’s so much better to bung them in the oven for 30 minutes while I cook the couscous. I use giant couscous, and make a dressing using olive oil, white wine vinegar and dijon mustard. I use oil in the dressing, but this is tasty oil, and not using it to cook the vegetables means saving the fat in this meal for where it really counts!

Salmon parcels

I’ve been trying to eat more oily fish recently in an attempt to get more Omega 3 in my diet. I can’t stand tinned fish, so salmon fillets have been my main source. However, fish is notorious for sticking and causing a mess!

Wrapping the fish up in a parcel using the non-shiny side of the Bacofoil® Non-Stick Kitchen Foil means I can bake it in the oven without it drying out, and it doesn’t stick to the foil when I try and take it out. I also add some garlic and a little bit of chilli sauce to the parcel.

Naan Pizza

This isn’t actually one of my meals, but rather one that Mr LLL makes. I think it’s a Nigella recipe originally. You take a ready-made Naan bread, top it with tomato puree, cheese and other pizza type toppings and bake it in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Then, normally, you spend 10 minutes picking foil off the bottom of the pizza, unless you are now the proud owner of a roll of Bacofoil® Non-Stick Kitchen Foil, then it just slides straight off and onto your plate. Yum.

Chips with garlic and lemon “mayo”

And, finally, my favourite. I make these a lot, but normally have to drizzle them in oil, which adds about 100 pointless calories that add nothing to the flavour.

Slice the potato (or sweet potato) finely into chips and bake for 30 minutes in a preheated oven around 200 degrees.

The garlic and lemon “mayo” is made with fat-free greek yoghurt and lemon and garlic seasoning.

The other handy bit of kitchen kit in my goodie box, was a box of their Bacofoil® All-Purpose Zipper Bags.

I have used these before to portion up smoothie ingredients, especially when I accidentally order 6kg of bananas. I put a banana, some frozen spinach and a handful of frozen raspberries or cherries in the bag, and freeze it.  All I have to do is grab a bag in the morning and mix it with water and protein powder in my smoothie maker.

The bags are also washable and reusable so I don’t have to keep buying them (very important).

Bacofoil® also gave me a few other tips for using them. They can be used to store homemade soups and chillis, both in the fridge and in the freezer. This is the kind of thing I normally put in a plastic box, but as the All-Purpose Zipper Bags have an expandable gusset, and the zip is secure (it’s not just one of those press close ones) they’re also handy to keep liquids in, and take up less space.

They suggested keeping avocado halves in them to make them last longer. This also applies to less trendy foods that I frequently use half of in cooking (or cocktail making, just saying.) like onions, lemons, limes and peppers.

Buying fresh fruit and veg is healthy, but it does go off quick, so these are an absolute lifesaver.

Other things they help keep fresh, just in case you’re not inspired by fruit and vegetables, are crumpets and doughnuts once the packet has been opened. Because, y’know, balance is very important.

This post was produced in collaboration with Bacofoil®. As ever, all opinions are my own.