Herbs Preserved in Avocado Oil

Summer is upon us. Whether you buy your fresh herbs from the farmers market, the grocery store, or you grow bushels of them in your backyard, summer is a great time to kick up your meals with herbs. Preserving those bright summer flavors is easy, too! You can always dry herbs, but if you want to keep them closest to their original flavor, texture and aroma, try preserving them in oil.

There is no better oil for the job then Chosen Foods avocado oil! Its mild taste wont over power your herbs like olive oil might and its high antioxidant value helps to preserve the herbs even more.

Avocado Oil Preserved Herbs

Ingredients

1 cup of your favorite garden herb (basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, mint and more!)

1-2 cups of avocado oil

Directions

Chop your selected herb with a chefs knife until its easy to work with. Large leaves need more chopping, like basil and mint. Oregano and other small herbs only need a little chopping.

Fill the bottom of an ice cube tray with your chopped herbs. Drizzle the avocado oil over them until the oil almost reaches the top. The oil will expand a bit when frozen, but not as much as water.

Pop in the freezer. Once they are fully frozen, take them out of the ice cube tray and store them in an airtight ziplock or other freezer safe container.

When you’re ready to use fresh herbs, simply melt in your pan! You’ll get about an ounce of oil to start your dish, plus the wonderful aroma of fresh, beautiful herbs!

Lemony Avocado Oil Salad Dressing

This simple salad dressing is the perfect accompaniment to a fresh spring variety of lettuce and herbs. Our avocado oil is famous for its smooth, light texture and clean, buttery flavor. Mixed avocado oil with fresh lemon juice creates a bright, pop of flavor that perfectly highlights the freshest ingredients.

Lemon Avocado Oil Dressing

Ingredients:

2 tbs of avocado oil

1 tbs of lemon juice

pinch of sea salt

pinch of pepper

pinch of chili powder

Directions:

Select and wash your favorite greens. We like a variety of lettuce – arugula, red and green lettuce and some kale. Mix in a few herbs. Try chives, cilantro and basil for a pungent kick. Mint and oregano would be great additions too.

Drizzle your salad with the avocado oil and lemon juice. Salt, pepper and a touch of chili powder come next. Toss until the oil looks to have coated all your ingredients. You can top your salad with grilled chicken, fish, skirt steak or even roasted sweet potatoes for a more hearty meal.

Raspberry Chia Seed Jam

This simple recipe will add 5g of fiber, 2g of protien and 2300mg of omega-3 to your morning toast. You could also so mix this raspberry chia seed jam in with cottage cheese or yogurt, top ice cream with it or even use it as a pastry filling.

Raspberry Chia Seed Jam

Ingredients:

1 cup of pre-made, no-sugar added, raspberry jam (homemade or store bought)

4 tbs of chia gel

Directions:

Mix 4 tbs of chia gel with 1 cup of jam until the two are fully incorporated, then serve!

If you prefer your jam on the thicker side, feel free to use dry seeds. Just mix 1 tbs of seeds with 1 cup of jam and wait at least 20 minutes for seeds to gel and set. Stir often.

The Ultimate Stir-Fry Experience

Chosen Foods is excited to announce our Ultimate Stir-Fry Experience. Follow the link to our facebook page to enter for your chance to win the following prize package!

The Ultimate Stir-Fry Giveaway!

-James Beard award winning cookbook “Stir-frying to the Sky’s Edge” by Chef Grace Young. She will teach you to master stir-fry in no time!

-Chosen Foods naturally refined, expeller pressed avocado oil. This high heat cooking oil is the perfect accompaniment to your stir-fry experience. A proper stir-fry requires your oil to be HOT, HOT, HOT! With a 500 degree smoke point, heart healthy monounsaturated fats and loads of antioxidants, our avocado oil is perfect for the job!

- Whats a stir-fry with out fresh veggies and some yummy protein?! To round out your experience, you’ll receive a $50 gift certificate to Whole Foods to stock up on all the necessary stir-fry ingredients!

Chosen Foods Top 5 Cooking Oil Tips

Cooking oil can be confusing! Whats healthy, whats not, whats the difference, how to use it, when to use it – the list goes on and on! Here are our simple Top 5 Cooking Oil tips:

Chosen Foods Top 5 Cooking Oil Tips

1. Choosing a healthy cooking oil is important. Look for virgin or naturally refined oils (if the label doesn’t say, assume its been chemically refined!) and avoid cooking with oils high in polyunsaturated fat. These include all seed oils: corn, soybean, sunflower, safflower, canola, flax etc. Polyunsaturated fats are very unstable and reactive to heat/light/air. The minute you add a polyunsaturated oil to your hot pan it develops toxins, free radicals and other harmful byproducts. Only use a virgin oil for dressings, or sauces that don’t require heat. By default, virgin oils have low smoke points and shouldn’t be used to cook with. A naturally refined oil with a high smoke point is your best bet for cooking.

2. Store your healthy cooking oil in refrigerator or in a cool dark place because both heat and light can oxidize the oil. Don’t worry if your oil becomes cloudy when cold, this is totally normal.

3. Make sure you heat your pan plenty hot BEFORE adding the oil. Too many home chefs add oil to a pan that’s not hot enough and wonder why they can’t get that great sear, or why their food sticks! Plus, the longer the oil is in the pan heating, the more damaged it becomes. If you are using a healthy cooking oil, like our avocado oil, you don’t have to worry about damaged oil! A 500 degree smoke point and high monounsaturated fat content protect the oils beneficial nutrients!

4. Buy a mister to save calories while still using your favorite healthy cooking cooking oil. Not only will this help your waist line, it eliminates the toxins, chemicals and rancid polyunsaturated oils commonly found in those aerosol spray cans!

5. Don’t dump your oil down the drain! This can clog and deteriorate pipes and pollute our waterways. Instead, keep an aluminum can in the freezer. When you’re used oil has cooled, pour it into the can and pop it back in the freezer. Throw the can out when its relatively full.

For more health tips, cooking tricks and awesome recipes, follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Chia Seed Margarita

A Chosen Foods customer sent us a picture of their “chia-rita” to celebrate National Margarita Day. We thought that was just too cool not to share! Here’s the recipe:

Chia Seed Margarita Recipe

2 oz lime juice

2 tbs of chia gel

2 tbs of honey, agave or palm sugar

2 oz water

2 oz tequilla

1 oz triple sec

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a mason jar so you can shake it around. Add more sugar to taste and a salty rim if thats your thing! Enjoy & Happy Margarita Day!

Strawberry Coconut Chia Truffle

This little morsel of raw, sweet, no-bake goodness will satisfy the sugar craving for sure. Ground chia help keep the mixture moist and we actually really dig the texture. Dried strawberries and coconut are what give the coating that pretty pink color. You can easily make your own by throwing some sliced fresh berries in a 125° oven for about 2 hours.  More »

Vegetable Oil Free Baking: Avocado Oil Bundt Cake

Polyunsaturated seed oils are the enemy of healthy cooking and sadly, most baking recipes require the use of the stuff. There are plenty of healthy alternatives, like olive or coconut oil, but only Chosen Foods naturally refined avocado oil will give your baked good the true to recipe taste AND the health benefits! Using avocado oil eliminates the trans fats, free radicals and oxidized acids found in vegetable oil, and adds a healthy dose of monounsatured fat. Try this simple avocado oil cake recipe today! More »

Ingredient Spotlight: Avocado!

This heart healthy ingredient can easily be added to your everyday diet through the use of avocado oil. With more than 20 Hass avocados per bottle of Chosen Foods avocado oil, your heart will be well on its way to better health! 

Heart Healthy Raspberry Coconut Chia Seed Pudding

It feels like the we just rang in the new year, but Valentines day is quickly approaching. Soon the grocery store shelves will be flooded with heart shaped chocolate and candy, big bouquets of red roses and boxes of Valentines day cards to send to school with the kids. But there is another special celebration of the heart going on in February – National Hearth Health month.

Sadly, the chocolates and candies we associate with Valentines day are the reason we need a Heart Health month in the first place. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. Stroke, another heart related illness, is the number #3 cause of death in both men and women. Total, more than 865,000 Americans will die this year from heart disease.

In honor of both holidays, we thought it would be fun to come up with a heart healthy, fun, festive and yummy dessert to serve instead of all the candy junk! Here’s to a heart healthy February, and a great start to 2013! More »