Healthier Alternative to Olive Oil?

Just made a delicious veggie stirfry for dinner, soo good, and only 175 calories. sounds good right? except that 120 of them came from olive oil! (i used one tablespoon) so unfair! if only i could use something with less calories, it could be even more healthy

btw, the recipe is:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1 cup coleslaw mix

10 mini carrots, cut into quarters

15 green beans, cut up

1 clove garlic, slivered

2 cups fresh spinach

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil. add all vegetables (including garlic) except spinach and stir fry on med-low heat about 7 minutes. when vegetables seem almost done, add soy sauce, salt and pepper, and spinach, then continue to stir fry until after spinach is cooked.

makes one serving

it was really good, i highly recommend it, and i think it would be even better with something other than olive oil, though still 175 is not bad.

 anyways just thought i'd see if anyone has any ideas, although from now on even if i do use olive oil ill just use less.

Olive Oil is very healthy for you, so I would not cut it out of your diet completely....but if occasionally you want to lighten up the calorie load, why dont you use spray olive oil....or if that doesn't give you enough flavor....put your olive oil in a spray bottle...and it will cut calories in 1/2!!

This sounds really delicious!  What a great way to use something as healthy as olive oil and still keep it healthy plus still low calories. 

I also use the spray olive oil.  Im thinking olive oil is closer to 125 calories per tablespoon but even at 175, that is a walloping amount of nutrient with all those vegetables and healthy olive oil.  A really great way to make something even healthier!

You could try a half tablespoon.  I wouldn't eliminate it because there are so many health benefits to eating good fats.  It enables your body to make use of the nutrients in the other ingredients for one thing.

thanks everyone. maybe i will just cut down on how much i use. it was extremely tasty, i must say!

Extra-virgin olive oil IS healthy... if you think that one tablespoon is too much, try wiping down the wok with a teaspoon of oil on some paper towel to just coat it lightly. I made a two-serving zucchini salad with one tablespoon of olive oil and I found it too oily - one teaspoon would have been about right.

Alternatively - still use one tablespoon of oil, but double up on all the other ingredients and make two servings at a time. It sounds like it would be fine either cold or reheated in the microwave an that automatically cuts the oil content for each serve in half!

i can't confirm it yet but i heard something interesting the other day about olive oil. apparently if you 'heat' olive oil you lose all of the bad cholestrol fighting power. thats why cold pressed olive oil is essential. if you use olive oil uncooked ( in a salad) you still keep its super healthy powers :)

can anyone confirm this????????????? 

Olive oil is one of the best fats, I wouldn't substitute it.  Not sure about cooking it though, not too hot is best I think.

that said.  I would just omit it or use much less.

Olive oil is great for you. Personally I prefer to reserve my olive oil in-take for salad dressings. You could cut your olive oil in half. Also, you can use bouillon in place of oil. Warm up the pan with a bit of chicken, or vegetable broth and away you go.

Remember, just because something is higher in calories does not mean it's worse for you. You have to think about what those calories are composed of. 1 piece of white bread may have fewer calories than 1 piece of whole grain bread, but if the whole grain bread has more nutrients and fiber, then the whole grain bread is definitely better.