NOW Macadamia Nut Oil, Available at the Expo Manger Santé et Vivre Vert

I’m testing a couple of products from the upcoming Expo Manger Santé et Vivre Vert (March 11-13, 2016) and first up is a expeller-pressed macadamia nut oil from NOW.

If you’ve never been to the expo before, it’s a weekend-long exhibition at the Palais de Congrès (metro Place d’Armes) where you can sample all sorts of health food, organic, local, sustainable, fair-trade, vegan, gluten free products. You can also buy them at reduced prices. It’s where I usually stock up on local sunflower oil and gluten free bread, sample the entire line of frozen desserts from Coconut Bliss and see which company is importing the best unsulfured figs, apricots and dates this year.

The best part of the expo, though, is discovering a product you’ve never tried before – and companies want you to try their products. Why would you splurge on a $50 container of raw, vegan protein powder if you couldn’t try it first? In that vein, in my upcoming posts I’ll be recommending a few new products to look out for at this year’s exhibition. Starting with…

NOW Macadamia Nut Oil

What’s so great about it? This non-GMO, expeller pressed oil has a high smoke point, making it better than olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil and sesame oil for high-heat cooking. It also has a higher ratio of unsaturated fats to saturated fats than olive oil.

What does it taste like? It’s a very light, slightly sweet nutty flavour – not as strong as sunflower – like a mild, sweet olive oil. There’s nothing too strong or off-putting about the flavour, which is good because if you’re going to cook it at high heat, you wouldn’t want to destroy any delicate flavours or aromas.

How do you use it? It’s perfect for wok cooking, searing meat, marinades, pestos, rice or vegetable salads or shallow or deep-frying (though that’s some pretty expensive frying oil), and it’s great for a vinaigrette where you don’t want a nut oil or flavoured oil overpowering the other ingredients. So anywhere you’d use canola oil or olive oil, you can use this. It’s also good to use as a moisturizer, like coconut oil, but doesn’t have that cloyingly coconut-y smell.

How much is it? About $25 for a 473mL bottle (the best price you’ll find will probably be at the Expo Manger Santé et Vivre Vert. (I swear they don’t pay me, but I am going to be giving away a pair of tickets for some lucky readers in the next week, so keep checking in with the blog if you want to win!).

RECIPE: Indian Roasted Eggplant

 

 

One way to use macadamia nut oil, as I did, is with Indian dishes, which often start by heating oil over high heat to cook spices (above). This is often done with ghee because of its higher smoke point, but macadamia nut oil is a much healthier replacement. Because of all the spices in this dish, you don’t taste the oil in the end, so your oil choice can be made based on the health benefits.

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 1/2 to 2 lbs eggplant (4 long purple Asian eggplants or two dark purple Italian ones)
1 tbsp macadamia nut oil
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
3 whole canned tomatoes, roughly chopped (or three fresh tomatoes blanched, peeled and chopped – in the middle of winter which are you going to choose?)
2 fresh hot red chili peppers, deseeded and minced
1 tsp salt

Rub the eggplants with a tiny bit of oil and place on a baking sheet in a 415˚F oven for 20 minutes. Rotate the eggplants and bake another 20 minutes, until partly deflated and soft. Remove to a large bowl and release the steam by cutting them open and leaving them to cool for a couple minutes.

When cool, scoop out the flesh, tear it or chop it into bite-size pieces and set aside.

Heat the tablespoon of macadamia nut oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. When hot, add the coriander, cumin, chili powder and garam masala. Stir and fry for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and fresh chili and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the eggplant and salt and stir and cook until no liquid remains and the eggplant is coated in spices.