oil free recipes???

[Andie]

As a vegan my diet is low in fat but I'm having to cut out all cooking oil due to PMS. Any ideas on substitutes when baking? And in salad dressings and sauces. Thanks

[mysh]

In some baked goods you can replace oil with an equal amount of applesauce. I find that it works ok in things like banana bread, but they still end up a little drier than with the oil. For me, it's a much better solution to reduce the amount of oil and replace the rest with apple sauce, but if you don't have the option of any oil... Just try it - it really ain't that bad, and the extra flavour can definitely make up for the lack of moisture.

[eve]

I've just been reading a long article, with plenty of references, pointing to the dangers of transfats. The sad thing is that there's no labelling of transfats; Denmark is the only country in the world to ban this fat. The US and Canada will bring in labelling by 2006, but products with 0.5g per serving will be labelled 'transfat free'. Australia has no plans in this regard. Fortunately for me I don't buy margarine, chips, muffins, etc. The article points out that the best fat is avocado, nut, seeds, coconut milk (I ignored 'fish').

[mysh]

Could you post where you found this article, please?
My mother tried explaining the health benefits of fish oils to me the other day... *sigh* I'm guessing it's not real healthy for the fish, though.

[cowpie]

Andie, like Mysh said, you can replace all the oil in a recipe with applesauce, but the finished product won't be as moist or tender. You can replace fat in a recipe with pureed prunes, too, or bananas. Tofu works, too, but it has fat in it. Replacing all the oil doesn't work too well for cookies, either. They need fat to work. They come out cake-like without fat in them.
You can replace fat in salad dressings by putting 1 cup of cold water or vegetable broth in a saucepan with 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. Cook, stirring constantly, until it' thick and clear. This comes from Bryanna Clark Grogan's vegan cookbook, "The (almost) No Fat Cookbook." Let it cool, and use it in dressings like you would oil. This thickens the dressing, but doesn't add fat.
I don't know about the sauces....what kind of sauces are you talking about?

[eve]

Mysh, it's in full in the October/November 2004 magazine called 'Nature & Health'. They don't seem to have a website, but have an email address, where I guess one can get a copy of the article. It's yaffa@yaffa.com.au (the Yaffa Publishing Group in NSW).
The writer of the article is Lara Grinevitch MSc,ND, a registered naturopath. She has a website at http://www.sensible-alternative.com.au but I notice that the article is not there.

[eve]

PS: This website may be useful in explaining to your mother, Mysh http://www.bantransfat.com/

[Andie]

Thanks everyone for the replies.
Cowpie, I should have been more clear. I'm avoiding added fat, what's in tofu is fine for me to have.
Thanks for the idea on how to make salad dressings. I think that would work well for warm sauces as well.