How you can use Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil as a substitute for butter for a healthy Thanksgiving feast
Updated October 28th 2022
Eat Healthily This Thanksgiving With Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Thanksgiving celebrations are as old as humanity itself, have their roots in all cultures and traditions and whilst the core reason for celebration remains the same, how we celebrate has changed over time.
This is why we are delighted to bring something new and really worth celebrating to the richness of Thanksgiving fare – Morocco Gold extra virgin olive oil.
But if you prefer to add more nutrients to your holiday meal, you may want to consider trying some new recipes or variation of old classics that has a few swaps. One way of doing this is to create recipes using ingredients found in the Mediterranean diet, especially extra virgin olive oil. This will add colour as well as great taste and health benefits to your Thanksgiving feast.
An incredibly simple and effective way of ensuring healthy alternatives this Thanksgiving is to substitute extra virgin olive oil for butter in your cooking. Extra virgin olive oil is a healthy substitute for vegetable oil or butter. It is high in monounsaturated fats, which are good for your heart, and help you to maintain a healthy weight. A quality extra virgin olive oil like Morocco Gold also contains antioxidants that can help protect your cells from damage. And, unlike vegetable oil or butter, extra virgin olive oil actually has health benefits. It has been shown to reduce inflammation and improve blood sugar levels. So, if you are looking for a healthier alternative to vegetable oil or butter, extra virgin olive oil is a great choice.
Replacing Unhealthy Fats With Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The Simple Way
There’s a lot of evidence to support the health benefits that extra virgin olive oil can bring, but rather than simply adding it to your existing diet you should be looking for ways to make substitutions to use it more frequently. That’s according to a recent article from Click2Houston, which pointed out how little butter, margarine or mayonnaise you need to swap out to make a meaningful difference to your health.
It cited research conducted in the USA, which found that replacing just five grams of margarine, butter or mayonnaise with the same amount of olive oil reduced the risk of coronary heart disease by up to seven per cent.
The news provider revealed that those who used more than seven grams of olive oil in their diets each day – the equivalent of half a teaspoon – lowered their risk of any cardiovascular disease by 15 per cent, and their risk of coronary artery disease by 21 per cent.
Replace, don’t add, was the message from the report’s author Dr Frank Hu, chair of the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “The main thing is to replace unhealthy fats with olive oil that can improve cholesterol, reduce inflammatory biomarkers and improve cardiovascular health,” Dr Hu stated.
About Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Morocco Gold is a super-premium beautifully crafted Extra Virgin olive oil. Our olives are grown in a raised valley in the foothills of the magnificent Atlas mountains. For instance the region rarely sees many tourists or ‘outsiders’.
Morocco Gold is made exclusively from the Picholine Marocaine olives. From branch to bottle, no shortcuts are taken, no steps are overlooked. The result is a ‘liquid gold’: a rare, polyphenol rich Extra Virgin olive oil of brilliant quality, extraordinary health benefits and a taste like no other.
The Taste
Morocco Gold has a distinctive green fruitiness, hints of sweet almonds, fresh turf and a hint of herbs. It has the ‘pepperiness’ of a fine extra virgin olive oil giving Morocco Gold a clean, well balanced finish that delivers an elevated gastronomic experience for food lovers.
Olive Oil For Cooking – Uses During Thanksgiving
Morocco Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil for cooking is incredibly versatile. It is excellent on its own also as a first class cooking medium and flavouring ingredient. As well as it’s own rich flavour, fine quality extra virgin olive oil like Morocco Gold has the uncanny ability to draw out the flavour of meats, fish and vegetables when used for cooking. It is also a wonderful, healthy substitute for butter.
Cooking up a whole Thanksgiving dinner can be stressful. There’s the turkey, turkey stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and so many sides. It’s a lot to keep track of, all while entertaining relatives, shopping for groceries and remembering whose kid is plant-based this year.
With some super-simple recipes and a little planning, it’s easier than you think to pull off a fabulous feast, complete with a Thanksgiving turkey, mouth watering sides and of course, dessert for thanksgiving celebrations.
In conclusion here are some of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes you can use Morocco Gold with as part of your Thanksgiving celebrations, click for the recipes:
- Thanksgiving Turkey
- Turkey Stuffing
- Turkey Dinner Accompaniments (Gravy)
- Cranberry Sauce
- The Vegies (Mashed Potato, Brussel Sprouts, Green Beans, Butternut Squash)
- Desert (Ice cream, Brownies)
Olive Oil: A Cross Culture Wisdom Of The Ancient World
In an ever changing and fast-moving world, it is unusual to re-discover a ‘wisdom of the ancients’ that is as potent now as it has been for thousands of years.
Olive oil has long been considered sacred. The olive branch was often a symbol of abundance, glory, and peace. Over the years, the olive has also been used to symbolize wisdom, fertility, power, and purity.
The Bible
The olive tree is one of the first plants mentioned in the Christian Old Testament, and one of the most significant. An olive branch was brought back to Noah by a dove to demonstrate that the flood was over.
Ancient Greece
Olive oil was used to anoint kings and athletes in ancient Greece. It was burned in the sacred lamps of temples and fuelled the “eternal flame” of the original Olympic games. Victors in these games were crowned with its leaves.
Legend has it that Poseidon, the sea god, and Athena, goddess of wisdom, competed to find the gift that would be most valuable to humankind. Poseidon offered the horse and Athena the olive tree. Because of its many uses, the provision of heat, food, medicine and perfume, the olive tree was chosen as the most valuable and in return for Athena’s contribution, the most powerful city in Greece was named Athens in her honour.
Ancient Rome
In Rome, olive oil was used for nearly everything in relation to their health. Roman medicine takes heavily from Greek doctors, who influenced European medicine for centuries, and Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine writes about over 60 different conditions or ailments that can be treated with olive oil.
For instance soaps were not around in the times of the Roman Empire. Instead when Romans went to bathe they rubbed olive oil all over their bodies. Then scraped it off with a strigil, carrying away all the dirt and grime. This left the skin silky and moisturized.
In richer patrician households, olive oil was often scented like a perfume, which would leave behind a sweet smell after it was gone. Like now, they would even pour some olive oil into their private baths to relax in them, to soften their skin and relax with some good aromatherapy.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
Hippocrates: father of modern medicine
Olive Oil and Islam
In addition the olive tree and olive oil are mentioned seven times in the Qur’an, and the olive is praised as a precious fruit. The Prophet is reported to have said: “Take olive oil and massage with it – it is a blessed tree”
Olive Oil as a Cure
For instance early Middle Eastern civilisations relied on Olive Oil to cure everything. To this day, many in the region drink olive oil daily to keep the body running efficiently.
Olive Oil: Ancient Wisdom That Lives On
Olive oil was believed to bestow strength and youth, not least because of the tree’s longevity and its tremendous resilience. Even through the harshest summers and winters they continue to grow strong and bear fruit
The olive branch continues to be the symbol of peace.
“If politics divide men, then good food brings them back together. In a world that finds it difficult to identify with the core values of human rights, sustainable development and peace, cooking remains a shared, every-day, and universal value.” Michael Moller, Director-General of the United Nations.
Therefore, Olive Oil is the most celebrated of food and more and more people are re-discovering the unique qualities of this, the original ‘superfood’ for themselves.
All add up to thanksgiving celebrations going well.
Morocco and The United States
So what is the connection with Morocco and the emergence of America as an independent nation?
At the beginning of the American Revolution, American merchant ships were subject to attack by Barbary Pirates who had dominated the seaways for centuries. (Indeed, the original Pilgrim settlers had themselves been attached by pirates in 1625 on a return trading voyage to Britain). During the revolution, American envoys tried to obtain protection from European powers, but to no avail. On December 20, 1777, Morocco’s Sultan Mohammed III declared that the American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage.
Morocco therefore became the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States as an independent nation. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as the U.S.’s oldest non-broken friendship treaty. Signed by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, it has been in continuous effect since 1786.
So we are truly delighted to bring this wonderful extra virgin olive oil from the United States oldest friend and ally to the tables of it’s families, in celebration of what unites us.