My parents turned me on to olive oil years ago when my dad started using it to lower his cholesterol. But even though I knew it was healthier for us to use rather than butter in the frying pan, sometimes the flavor of it combined with what I was making just seemed off.
Thanksgiving dinner is about the only time I can get away with serving squash at the dinner table – I love it, but the rest of my family not so much. Yet if I’ve learned one thing over the years of raising a family, it is that if you ‘spruce’ up the veggies enough (or in this case the gourds), they might actually admit that it wasn’t so bad 😉
I confess that although I can follow a recipe well, and from a good framework can even make some more “my own” (like this recipe which I picked apart from a Woman’s Day magazine that used Brussels sprouts and chestnuts), flavor pairings sometimes evade me – and so I’m glad to be able to find Star Virgin Olive Oils at my local Walmart, which are flavored to complement certain foods.
Picual Olive Oil – Beef and Lamb are good choices to use with this bold flavor
Hojiblanca Olive Oil – this is a lighter flavored variety that you can use with fish and poultry
Arbequina Olive Oil – which is fresh and fruity and works well with vegetables
And in my case, it’s a bit like “Olive Oil for Dummies”, it’s quite clear right on the bottles which one you should buy for what type of food you are using it with.
Back to my Thanksgiving squash now.. I picked up a bottle of the Arbequina to make my Apricot-Mustard Squash, wondering if it would enhance my side dish, alter the taste completely or make my family go running for the hills.
The olive oil in this recipe is subtle in use, drizzled on to the squash after it’s cooked and before you add the apricot-mustard mixture. But it defined the taste of the dish, plus it provided a smooth texture to the squash.
I’m happy to say that the Arbequina Olive Oil definitely enhanced the squash. To the point that I don’t even know if my family would have liked it, because after I made it and taste tested it, I knew I’d have to take my photos quickly. It was that good. So good that after I finished my first mini-bowl, I filled it up again.
Seriously folks, I finished the whole recipe on my own. (Heh, it’s squash I don’t need to feel guilty about it!)
Interested in trying the new Star Extra Virgin Olive Oils for yourself? Go over and “Like” them on Facebook, and then Enter to Win a Set of 3 of their Usage Pairing EVOOs. There will be 5 winners. If you can’t wait to see if you’ve won, check your local Walmart to see if they are available.
Check out some more recipes made with Star Extra Virgin Olive Oils on Pinterest.
How would you use these unique varieties of Olive Oils in your everyday cooking?
Tammy Litke is a Dallas blogger, blogging since 2008. She loves to watch movies, play video games, spend time in the kitchen, and travel. Between recipes and reviews you’ll find many helpful and some just plain funny posts on her blog. Welcome, pull up a chair and stay for a while!
I've never heard of Star olive oil before. I'll have to check it out – and your recipe looks delicious!
I love the idea of Olive Oil for dummies, lol…I never saw a bottle with what it's used for right on the label like that!
I love olive oil. I use it mainly to dip breads in and in my homemade vinaigrette dressings.
I don't use much olive oil or any oil. I too have that high cholesterol problem. Not a fan of squash but I think my husband would love it.
Olive oil is just about the only thing we cook with! We go through a large bottle every two weeks and I would really love to sample some of these unique varieties.
I don't recognize this brand, but I use olive oil every day.
Lady you come up some weird combos… I like that in a cook 🙂
Reply to Robin:
Ha ha! I am known to try combos that sound strange but actually end up tasting great, of course I've tossed more than a few dishes in my lifetime too!
Definitely a good dish to indulge in! I love using olive oil in the place of butter too – I can't believe how much butter I used to use.. now butter actually goes bad in our house 😉 I love this same exact oil for my salad!!!
I use olive oil more often than any other oil. Your recipe seems like it would be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner.
I LOVE Star Olive Oil and I literally make all of my pasta dishes with it.
I love olive oil and have been trying it in more and more recipes lately.
I love using olive oil in lots of my recipes!
Okay, that's super cool! I cook with olive oil almost every time &everything tastes fine to me, but I imagine it would taste even BETTER with specially seasoned versions. I'll have to look for this!
This looks like a perfect Thanksgiving side dish!
I usually just buy plain old olive oil. I am going to check out this brand the next time I'm in the store. Maybe it will inspire a new recipe!
I didn't realize there were so many varieties of olive oil. Smart of them to make it dummy proof and label the container!
We love using olive oil when cooking. That squash looks great!
I have never heard of this brand, and I have never heard of combining these ingredients with butternut squash. It looks interesting
Squash is great for the holidays! I love cooking with and the mild taste of olive oil.
That's amazing! I love that the label tells you which kind to use depending on the dish you're cooking. I'd be totally overwhelmed by the olive oil aisle otherwise. 🙂
Neat combination of flavors, I wouldn't have thought of using apricot jam with squash
I'm slowly transitioning to olive oil, keyword being SLOWLY, I'm trying though.
I like this healthier version! I'll have to try making it.
I either use olive oil or coconut oil, with the very, very small exception of butter from time to time.
This is a great healthy version. I love using Olive oil to cook.
We use olive oil all of the time, but I have never heard of ones designed for use with different foods. I will definitely be looking for these in my local store.
Oh, and the recipe sounds so unique – I will definitely have to try it. It sounds like something my hubby and kids would love.
So delicious! THANK YOU! #client
I normally don't use olive oil but this does look good!