Avocado Oil Giveaway

You’ve heard about the health benefits of monounsaturated fats? Are you aware of the hazards and health risks associated with consumption of polyunsaturated vegetable oils?  Have you stopped buying and using soy, safflower, sunflower, corn, and canola oils, and generic “vegetable” oils? If not, click here to read my previous post, Move Over Olive Oil, Make Way for Avocado Oil.

Photo right: Storino's Quality Products©

Time for an oil change
For cooking and baking, the healthiest and best fats and oils are still real butter, ghee, clarified butter, lard, beef tallow, palm oil, non-hydrogenated palm shortening, and coconut oils. These are healthy, traditional fats with a long safe history of use. They are stable at room temperature and in cooking. You can also avocado oil to the list. (To learn more about fat and oil myths generated by the processed oil industry, read chapter 5: A Short Fat Primer in The Garden of Eating: A Produce-Dominated Diet & Cookbook.)

Extra-virgin olive oil is great for salad dressing and moderate to low heat cooking (best below 350 to 400˚F and medium or medium low heat), but in some recipes, that require a higher heat, such as roasting vegetables, it can be damaged. Enter unrefined avocado oil, which has the highest smoke point of all plant oils at 490˚to 520 F (virgin avocado oil has a smoke point of 375˚F; refined olive oil has a smoke point of 468˚F).

You can also use avocado oil in baked goods, including muffins, quick breads (banana, pumpkin, etc), loaf breads, pizza, foccacia, pancakes, waffles, as well as cookies and cakes. You can use it one for one to replace vegetable oil, margarine, shortening, or butter.

For marinating meats and vegetables, olive and avocado oil both work well. Which one you choose will depend on the temperature at which you cook the food. For uncooked applications (salad dressings, dips, drizzles and dessert sauces) olive and avocado oils are best because they remain liquid (coconut and palm oil become hard when refrigerated). Of the two, avocado oil has a more mild flavor, making it ideal in recipes where a strong olive flavor can overpower (e.g., homemade mayonnaise, sweet salad dressings, muffins, quick breads, desserts, and dessert sauces).

Food photos right: Rachel Albert Copyright 2009, 2010©

Avocado oil can also be used for as a moisturizer, for massage, and in homemade cosmetics (facials, creams, lip balms, soaps, hot oil treatments for your hair, etc.) to sooth, soften, hydrate, and rejuvenate irritated, sensitive, dry, or sun damaged skin and hair.

Avocado oil is king
I’ve experimented with a couple of brands of avocado oil. This year I discovered Ahuacatalan (pronounced  "AWA COTA LAWN") 100% pure avocado oil at the Wednesday Town & Country Farmer’s Market in Central Phoenix (20th street & Cammelback, near Trader Joe’s). It’s cold pressed at 40˚F and Kosher certified. To learn more about it click here. It has a light, slightly buttery flavor that blends well with almost any food, from savory to sweet.

Here are some of the ways I’ve used it:

Pomegranate Dressing
Spice Crusted Salmon
The Everlasting Salad
Karly’s Carob Sauce & Karly’s Cocoa Sauce
Grain-Free Paleo Pumpkin Muffins
Grain-Free Rosemary Olive Bread
Lemonette Dressing
Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Scones

Two lucky winners will each receive a 25-ounce bottle of Ahuacatalan 100% pure Avocado Oil. Here’s how you can enter to win.

Rules for entering:
MANDATORY: Subscribe to The Healthy Cooking Coach blog OR have someone you know subscribe. Click the “subscribe” button halfway down the page on the left, then leave a comment below saying that you did this.

    Note: If you already subscribe to The Healthy Cooking Coach blog, you MUST submit a comment telling me that you already follow my blog to have it count as an entry. Please spread the word and tell someone else about this blog.

For additional entries, do any of the following*:
   1. Leave a comment below with a link to your favorite avocado oil recipe or a recipe where you’ve substituted avocado oil.
   2. Visit my You Tube Channel, watch one of my cooking demonstrations, and let me know what you think by posting a comment below.
   3. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel or tell someone else about it, then leave a comment below saying you did this.
   4. Visit my Twitter page and leave a comment about why you like my blog, my cookbooks, or this giveaway, and leave a comment below saying you did this.
   5. Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment below saying you did this.
   6. Announce the giveaway on Facebook and leave a comment below saying you did this.
   7. Mention this giveaway to your family and/or friends and leave a comment below saying you did.
   8. Come up with your own creative idea and leave a comment below saying you did this.

***EACH ENTRY MUST BE SUBMITTED SEPARATELY and you’ll need to post a comment below telling me what you did each time!

* If you have any questions just email me (see link below my picture on the right side of this page). THIS IS A BLOG GIVEAWAY SO ALL ENTRIES TO WIN MUST BE DONE ON THIS BLOG POST.

*Giveaway ends Sunday, June 13th, 2010 at 11:59 PM (PST). Sorry, but this giveaway is open to U.S. readers only.

Comments

[Fernando]

I already follow your blog and love it!

[Mary Rondeau NMD]

I already follow your blog and LOVE it. Thanks

[Mary Rondeau NMD]

I tell ALL my patients to join your blog. Thanks.

Hi Mary,

Thanks! I appreciate your support!

Rachel

[Brandy Afterthoughts]

Yay! If I comment first, does this mean I win? :)

I already subscribe...

[Brandy Afterthoughts]

Also, I forwarded your post from my Google Reader to some friends...

[Brandy Afterthoughts]

I already subscribe...

Sorry if I sent this twice...I am pretty sure my first attempt saying this got lost. :(

[Melissa W.]

already follow your blog

Thanks, Melissa! I appreciate your enthusiasm and readership!

Best wishes in the drawing!

Rachel

[Melissa W.]

I'm fairly new to avocado oil, but I'd love to try this recipe for Avocado Oil Pesto: http://www.olivado.com/cookbook3.htm

[Melissa W.]

tweet

http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/15682463900

[Melissa W.]

follow you on twitter (@matt4melis)

[Melissa W.]

Add to del.icio.us

http://delicious.com/matt4melis

[Melissa W.]

dugg

http://digg.com/users/matt4melis

[Melissa W.]

stumbled

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5Ewc4N/www.thehealthycookingcoach.com/2010/06/avocado-oil-giveaway.html

[Allie (Random Teaspoon)]

I subscribed!

[Melissa W.]

daily tweet

http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/15718794005

[Melissa W.]

Subscribe to your YouTube Channel (matt4melis)

[Melissa W.]

daily tweet

http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/15795079731

[Brenda]

I subscribed! This looks really interesting to add to our oil cache. Avocado -- who knew?

[Melissa W.]

daily tweet

http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/15865959757

[Misaki]

I already follow your blog, and I read it everyday. I love every bit of it.

[emily]

i subscribe to your blog

[Melissa W.]

daily tweet

http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/15963756353

[Philis Hileman]

Rachel, you have written about Coconut Secret's Coconut Nectar, Aminos, etc.. I have never been able to figure out where to buy online as it is not in our health food stores. Do you sell it?

A reply to my email would be great to make sure I see the answer.

Thank you,

Philis

Hi Phylis,

I don't sell the products. They're fairly new on the market. Here's the contact info for the company. They can tell you what stores are or will be carrying them.
Ph. (888) 369-3393

info@coconutsecret.com
leslie@coconutsecret.com

THANKS, for reading and commenting on my blog.

Chef Rachel

[Melissa W.]

daily tweet

http://twitter.com/matt4melis/status/16031772424

[Christie B.]

I already subscribe to your blog. It's fun to follow!

Thanks, Christie! I appreciate your support!
Rachel

[Christie B.]

I like to use avocado oil in my homemade mayo. I use it along with olive oil, to mellow out the olive oil flavor. It's very nice mayo.

[Christie B.]

I watched your YouTube video for making coffee ice dream. Could that be made using your coffee substitute in the Garden of Eating book? I gave up coffee years ago, but I do like the flavor.

I love the idea of using gelatin to thicken the ice cream mixture. I, too, make my own ice cream using coconut milk. Yummy! I bet thickening with the gelatin will make it even better. Thanks!

Hi Christie,

Yes, you could make the Coffee Ice Dream using a strong batch of Chicory & Dandelion Root "Coffee." The gelatin makes a huge difference in the texture, loft, and keeping quality.

Chef Rachel