Quick Saute!

I'm a huge fan of the quick saute.  For me, since I rarely add oils to anything and try to stay away from most fats, this is a way to sneak in a little bit of olive oil.  I particularly like to do this with veggies like spinach -- the oil helps release the iron, so that it is more available for my body to use.  And the heat (not too high), also serves to concentrate some of the herb flavours I like to use (and my garlic, which goes into darn near everything).

I also use olive oil in my saute's.  But sometimes, I just use chicken broth and no oil at all.  Sometimes have to watch and add some more broth if it cooks away -- but for veggie sautees, I pretty much always use chicken broth now.

That's true that you need some fat in order to be able to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in the veggies you eat.  I think I get mine from the chicken or fish that I usually eat with the veggies.

I am a believer in a certain amount of fat in my diet, I'm within the range but on the high side...Last night I used 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil to saute 1.3 lb of shrimp in the shell. I added a touch of lemon pepper. I also steamed broccoli with about 1/2 T butter and 2 T water and a shake or 2 of lemon pepper. When the shrimp were just pink, I added the steamed broccoli. It was a very simple, lean supper for me and my daughters. Mostly we were eating cake!

Farewell parties are always calorie-packed at my house, they include alcohol and sweets, and often last 2 or 3 days...I am blessed that my children like to spend time in my house...Also, as they age, my 20-somethings are developing a taste for "real food" in addition to sweets and booze.

I never add oil to my frypan at all unless I'm actually FRYING (which I do occasionally...) normally I put seasoning on the food and add water or broth and cook the food until the liquid has all evaporated away. It keeps the food lovely and moist and adds no extra calories...

this is great. I think i probably really overdue it on the oil. I'm not crazy heavy with oil, but a tablespoon at least probably goes into everything I cook. I didn't even think about cooking without oil! I, too, love butter, but these days, I try to use it only very rare occasions and usually just enough for a bit of flavor. I'm probably going to pull a little butter out this week to put on my sweet corn!

oh, so what do you guys use, canned broth or buillion? how long can the rest of the can keep in the fridge if it's the canned kind that you are using?