Cooking Tip: Sauteing and Roasting Vegetables WITHOUT Oil

Did you know that some stores offer demonstrations? Grocery stores offer some cooking basics demonstrations, home improvement stores offer home improvement project demonstrations, and craft stores offer craft demonstrations. ABMS found a new website that we love, HomemadeMothering.com, that offers many different things. Recently the author attended one of these demonstrations about cooking and sauteing vegetables without any sort of oil. Didn't know that? Neither did we at ABMS. So in an effort to cut out the excess oil in your life, read up on what they learned...


We started with onions.  Much to my total shock, oil is not needed to cook onions!!  I always assumed the onions would stick to the pan and cook unevenly without any oil, but quite the opposite was true.  As the instructors demonstrated, the pan needs to be hot enough for water drops to “dance” when splashed in it.  Once the right temperature is achieved, toss in the diced onions and allow their natural “sweat” to keep the pan lubricated.  Stir frequently.

Once the onions were softened, chopped garlic and diced sweet potatoes were added to the pan along with a few tablespoons of vegetable broth.  This “steam saute” method cooked the potatoes perfectly in just a few minutes.


We also enjoyed simple roasted asparagus.  Without a coating of olive oil, the earthy taste of the Michigan-grown asparagus really shined through.

Oil-Free Roasted Asparagus


1 bunch asparagus (about 1 pound), tough ends trimmed
Juice of 1/2 orange or 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, thyme and mint
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange spears on baking sheet.  Squeeze orange or drizzle vinegar over asparagus, toss to coat and season with pepper.  Roast, shaking the pan occasionally, until just tender, about 8-10 minutes.  Watch carefully to avoid overcooking! Transfer to a platter, scatter herbs over the top, and serve.