5 Ways to Get Your Daily Dose of EVOO

The research about olive oil and its health benefits becomes more compelling each year. We know that olive oil can help reduce your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even cancer and dementia. We also know that the FDA recommends adding two tablespoons of EVOO to your diet to help protect your heart. But what are some practical ways you can get your recommended dose of liquid gold and at the same time reduce the amount of artery-clogging saturated fat that you consume? As you can imagine at We Olive, we are all a bit olive oil-obsessed. Following are our favorite healthy and flavorful ways to add EVOO with ease.

1. Replace butter with olive oil. It’s easy enough to use olive oil instead of butter to saute or season your veggies, but what about in other recipes? Use our handy conversion chart to give your favorite butter-laden recipes a healthy boost. For sweet recipes or baked goods, we like a mild or fruity olive oil that won’t overpower delicate flavors.

2. Spread olive oil on your toast instead of butter. We won’t lie, butter does have that lovely, soft, creamy, spreadable thing going on. But there’s no reason why you can’t have that same soft, spread-y love affair with EVOO. Do as we do and keep a crock of olive oil in your fridge to spread on your morning toast. Or get fancy and create flavored olive oil spreads by adding herbs, spices and seasonings to your favorite oil. Think combinations like cinnamon, honey and Blood Orange Olive Oil or lime juice & zest, sriracha sauce and Garlic Olive Oil.

3. Make your own salad dressing. Enough with the bottled, preservative-filled grocery store stuff already. In our opinion, there is nothing better than a humble vinaigrette made from a bit of lemon juice, a dab of mustard and some California olive oil. Get our basic recipe for vinaigrette here and then make it your own by swapping out different vinegars, adding fresh herbs or stirring in a dollop of pesto.

4. Finish it! Extra virgin olive oil is so packed with flavor that it makes the most fantastic finishing oil. There’s no better way to add flourish to your food than with a drizzle of robust, peppery oil. We like tossing steamed veggies in our Fresh Garlic Olive Oil. Raw shaved veggies taste even better dressed with our Lemon Olive Oil. Pureed soups look beautiful dotted with a robust, green EVOO. We even like a fruity olive oil drizzled over nutella slathered crostini!

5. Saute, roast or grill. Whether you are sauteeing, roasting or grilling your meat and veggies, ditch the butter and oils with saturated fat in favor of olive oil. You’ll get heart healthy results with delicious flavor.