The Good Oil

In choosing cooking oils, consider three things: the amount of saturated fat (heart clogging) vs. unsaturated fat (heart-friendly), the smoking point, and the cost.

Olive oil and canola oil both have more good fats than bad. The smoking point of oil is the temperature at which it begins to breakdown. Choose the one with a higher smoking point, such as canola, olive or corn oil. Canola is a good choice because aside from being cheaper than olive oil, it's flavorless and will go with any dish. Olive oil is also great for salad dressings to get optimum flavor and health benefits. Other flavored oils such as walnut or sesame oil should just be drizzled sparingly onto the dish since the flavors break down with heat. Calorie-wise, all oils are equal. So no matter what oil you use, stick to stir-frying and sauteing, as both use less oil than deep frying.