Tuesday Sep 07

Celebrating Christmas with Olive Oil

Christmas is characterized by lots of merrymaking, and showering of gifts. Mothers are seen busy with their Christmas shopping, for clothes and food items for celebration of the great feast (Christmas).

The popular food items during this season are rice, tomatoes, groundnut oil and condiments. During this season, although, manufacturers produce large quantities for sales, the prices of these commodities still sky rocket. Despite the hike in prices, mothers do not hesitate to buy what their families need, to complement the peace and joy in their homes. Mothers are however advised to be careful and selective in their choice, since lots of fake products do flock market stores.
Why incur all these expenses anyway, when there are other delicacies that we can celebrate with? How about pounded yam and vegetable or eguse soup? Or better still, yam or potatoes with vegetable. These are simple food, which are in season and less expensive too, since very few people buy them at this period.

If you must stick to the food of the season (rice and stew), then why not introduce a slight change in the cooking method or items for the meal like; applying varieties of spices to give it a nice flavour or another brand of oil?
Yes, olive oil might just do the magic.

Olive oil is one of the most effective health-promoting type of oil available today. It is rich in monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that research has discovered to have excellent health benefits. It also contains vitamin E, polyphenolic phytonutrients that have anti oxidant activity.

Several researches have demonstrated how regular use of olive oil has helped in preventing coronary hearth disease. It also reduces both inflammation and free radical damage to cholesterol, as well as protects the endothelium, the lining of the blood vessels, while also helping to maintain its ability to relax and dilute (thus preventing high blood pressure).
Some other studies have shown that olive oil rich diets not only reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL)(a type of lipoprotein that transports cholesterol and triglycerides from the liver to peripheral tissues) cholesterol levels, but also lower blood sugar levels and decrease insulin requirements in persons with type II diabetes.

The rich supply of polyphenols which are known to have anti inflammatory, anti oxidant and anti coagulant actions may also be central to emerging evidence that olive oils protective effects extend to colon cancer and osteoporosis.
A study involving olive oil and gastric ulcer demonstrated how patient with gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcers replace the animal fat in their diet with olive oil and reduced the ulcer size as well as increased significantly the percentage of its healing.

Three studies suggested that the heart-healthy effects from olive oil are due to not only its high content of monounsaturated fat, but also to its hefty concentration of antioxidants which includes chlorophyll, carotenoids (are organic pigments that are naturally occurring in chromoplasts of plants and some other photosynthetic organisms like algae, some types of fungus and some bacteria.) and the polyphenolic compounds, lyrosol, hydrotyrosol and olueropein- all of which not only have free radical scavenging abilities, but protect the vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) also found in olive oil.

Olive oil is not only meant for cooking, it can also be used to replace margarine/butter while eating bread and also used in dressing salads. Olive oil should be stored in a dark tinted bottle to protect it from oxidation caused by exposure to light.
Quantity that can be consumed between 3-4 months should be purchased instead of that which can last a year, as it has been discovered that light destroys the antioxidants in the oil if stored for a long time, even under the best controlled conditions.

There are about 4 ranges of olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, which is the unrefined oil derived from the fist pressing of olives and has the most delicate flavour, the fine virgin, refined and pure olive oil.

Potatoes and vegetable porridge

  • Pepper
  • Onion (1 medium size diced)
  • Garlic (4 clo    ves)
  • Ginger
  • Oil (vegetable or palm)
  • Chicken (shaded)
  • Potatoes (5 medium sizes diced)
  • Vegetable (1 bunch chopped)
  • And salt to taste


Method l
Sweat onion garlic and ginger with little oil and salt until tender. Add chicken and diced potatoes, cover and boil potatoes are tender, adding more if necessary; add vegetable and allow to boil for five minutes, taste, add a little salt if desired, then bring down and serve.

Method ll.
Prepare all the vegetables by chopping and have ready. Heat chicken in a pot; add onion, garlic and ginger over a medium heat for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add potatoes and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour in the vegetable last and allow to steam for 5minutes, season with salt and white pepper.
Serve with any fruit juice of your choice.

Instead of throwing away left over rice at Christmas, steam again to refresh then cook using this items and method:

  • Oil (vegetable)
  • 1Medium onion sliced
  • Few cloves of garlic (smashed)
  • Ginger
  • 2-3 red chillies (sliced thin)
  • 2-3 green chillies sliced thin
  • 2-3 prepared vegetables of choice (shredded cabbage, sliced carrots bell peppers)
  • Green beans
  • Salt to taste

Heat little oil, add garlic and ginger and stir till fragrant but not brown, add red chillies and onions and stir it all around till the onions change colour (a minute or 2) add the prepared vegetables and cook, stirring all the time,, for 2-3 minutes, till the vegetables have all brightened up. Add the left over rice and stir, sprinkle salt and stir till heated through then serve.