You don’t need a traditional vinaigrette on a salad: Try a “deconstructed” dressing.

A drizzle of fine olive oil or a squeeze of fresh lime juice with a few snipped chives is eye-openingly good.

Many oils have personalities that can be enjoyed on their own, unblended with vinegar.

We’ve been using grassy-flavored extra-virgin olive oils from Sicily and Australia made from the picual olive (they’re also great bread dippers).

And of course, brands of fine olive, grapeseed, and avocado oils are available infused with flavors like basil, garlic, rosemary, and chile for added flavor.

The same holds true for flavored vinegars, especially among people who are counting calories and don’t want the oil.

You might say: Hey there, people have been using “deconstructed” bottles of oil and vinegar for millennia, blending them as they wish.

Yes. Isn’t it nice to revive the practice?
 
 
> The history of olive oil.

> The different types of olive oil: a glossary.

> The history of vinegar.

> The different types of vinegar: a glossary.

> The history of limes.

> The different types of limes: a glossary.
 
 
See our October 22 Tip Of The Day, “Flavor Boosters,” for links to our favorite flavored olive oils, grapeseed oils, and macadamia nut oils.

[1] A premium olive oil will add complex flavors to your food (both photos © Oliviers & Co.).

[2] Sauternes vinegar is a specialty item that makes a great gift for a good cook.

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

And everybody wins, because when you go to the website to enter the contest, you can download a $1.00 coupon good for any of McCann’s healthy and delicious oatmeal products—from the elegant metal canister of traditional steel-cut oats to 5-minute steel-cut oats, 3-minute rolled oats and instant oats. We’ll be reviewing the entire line in January, “Healthy Foods Month” at THE NIBBLE.

If you like collectibles, McCann’s has just introduced a very limited edition Cookie Jar and set of 4 “Oatmeal Mugs.” Only 1,000 have been produced, so if you’re a McCann, a McCann’s fan or a collectible enthusiast, run to get them before they sell out.

Give these delicious, crunchy-textured steel-cut oats to friends who have only known softer rolled oats as “oatmeal.”

• Enter the contest, get the $1.00 coupon and check out the collectibles on the McCann’s website.
• Review the health benefits of oatmeal.

It’s effortless to save the world by drinking
organic, Fair Trade coffee. Photo by
Ermek | IST.

You’d think this would be great news, but just 0.6% of the coffee sold in the major consuming countries is organic certified, and even less is Fair Trade certified.

In honor of National Fair Trade Month, we’ve reviewed some of our favorite organic and Fair Trade coffees. Agricultural products can be organic and Fair Trade, organic or Fair Trade (obviously, the vast majority of foods are neither). What do these terms mean? In brief:

• Organic farming and products help the environment and mankind by refraining from use of chemical pesticides and by conserving the land for wildlife, by soil conservation and reforesting.

• Fair Trade practices and products help the farmers by guaranteeing them fair payment for their crops. This enables them to provide education and medical care for their families, among other basic human needs.

Yet of the $18 billion spent on coffee in the U.S. last year, the tiniest fraction went to organic and Fair Trade coffee. You can make a difference while enjoying an excellent cup of java.

• Discover delicious organic & Fair Trade coffee beans sourced and roasted by artisan roasters in the full review. (More than half of our coffees are certified kosher, too.)
• Learn your coffee terms in our Coffee Glossary.
• Where did coffee come from—and more importantly, how did it turn into the beverage we enjoy today? Read the history of coffee.
• Trying to cut down on your daily coffee expenditures in this economy? Read our money-saving tips.

• See some of our especially tasty diet foods. 

Don’t save your infused oils only for salads. Use them in marinades, as basting oils, and as anointing oils.

Drizzle them on cooked fish, poultry, meats, and vegetables, including potatoes.

It’s fun to have a variety of flavored oils to work with—garlic, basil, rosemary, wasabi, lemon, and jalapeño oils, for example.

Since oils begin to lose their freshness six months after the bottle is first opened, the more often you use them and the more frequently you replace them, the more lively-tasting they’ll be.

One of our favorite companies, Boyajian, sells small bottles of flavored olive oil that are a better way to buy flavored oils if you don’t use large quantities.

How about a deconstructed salad dressing?

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] Basil and garlic are two popular infused EVOO flavors, but there are numerous other flavors including the “hot” group of chipotle, jalapeño, wasabi, and more (both photos © Boyajian).

[2] If you’re a fan of balsamic vinegar, try this one: It’s enhanced with natural cherry flavor.