We know that vegetable oils such as canola and olive oil are heart healthier than our beloved butter. What we may not know is just how versatile our home-grown canola oil can be. Sure, you can fry with it, but make a pound cake? Yes you can.

We love the robust flavours of the cold pressed canola oils, the culinary equivalent of high-quality extra virgin olive oils, made by small producers such as the Marshalls at Highwood Crossing in southern Alberta, or Mighty Trio near Redwater. Their oils are deep golden in colour, with a sweet and nutty taste. High in omega-3, low in saturated fat, heart-healthy and palate-friendly indeed.

At the recent Taking it to Heart, a food and fashion benefit for Alberta Heart and Stroke sponsored by Alberta Canola, delicious and heart-healthy dishes were created by a roster of established and up-and-coming female chefs; Jasmin Laderoute, MKT; Sarah Masters-Phillips, Belgravia Hub; Joelle Sparvier, Public House; the Edmonton Petroleum Club’s Doreen Prei, Tracy Zizek, Café de Ville; along with special guest Liana Robberecht, the executive chef of the Calgary Petroleum Club.

Recipes

• Tracy Zizek’s cold-pressed canola oil cake
• Doreen Prei’s Taking it to Heart trout with scallop carpaccio, watercress herb purée and orange emulsion

Find more recipes at canolainfo.org.