1,600 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 77 videos

A drizzle of olive oil

Often in a recipe, you have to "baste" vegetables, for example, before sending them to the oven.
What the author means by this is that you need to put oil on top of the vegetables to cook them in the oven.

Typically, we just quickly drizzle oil over the vegetables, hoping not to miss any, but is this the right way to do it?

8,478 4/5 (2 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Fillet Oil Vegetables Spread Even Seasoning Mix Coat Brush

Last modified on: July 13^th 2025

For this post Comments Lasts posts Follow

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

A good method?

Let's say it right away, no, it's not a very good method, and here's why:

Spreading the oil in this way, in one quick gesture, will apply a little, but alas, not everywhere, and a good proportion of the vegetables won't be oiled. As one chef joked, "You put it everywhere, except where it's needed".
By doing this, you're only going to put oil on the top of the vegetables, which may be intentional, or on the contrary, it may interfere with the cooking process.

What to do?

Here are 2 more effective ways.

1) Put the vegetables in a salad bowl, pour the oil over them, mix them thoroughly, and only then put them in the baking dish.

Note : Little oil used, evenly distributed, seasoning can be done at the same time.

By the way, the best and quickest way to mix the contents of a bowl like this is to place a plate or lid on top, hold it in your hand, and shake gently.

2) Coat the vegetables with a brush dipped in oil all over their surface, then only send to the oven.

Note : Very little oil used, perfectly distributed, brush can be replaced by a sprayer, seasoning can be done after the brush stroke, rather suitable for large pieces (half-vegetable).

I've used the example of vegetables with olive oil here, but of course this can be applied to any recipe where you need to spread a liquid (oil, wine, juice, syrup, etc.) on one or more foods.

In short: To spread a liquid on food, it's best to mix it together, or coat the food with the liquid.

Lasts posts

Hot Emulsified Sauces

In French cuisine, sauces are a very important part of a recipe—not just a side dish. In fact, they’re so important that, especially since the time of Auguste Escoffier, they’ve been classified into categories. And among these categories are “hot emulsified sauces,” or lukewarm ones. ...
September 9^th 20268365

Hot Dishes and Cold Dishes

When plating or serving a dish—whether hot or cold—on a plate, it’s very important to make sure they’re both the right temperature; in other words: if the dish is hot, the plate should be hot, and conversely, if the dish is cold, the plate should be cold. Is this really important? Let’s...
September 2^nd 20267873

In baking, cold is your friend

When you bake at home—especially when making pie crusts—you’ve probably noticed that it’s quite difficult to work with the dough when it’s hot. It gets soft, is hard to roll out, and breaks or crumples very easily. And this doesn’t just happen when it’s hot—even in a comfortable...
August 26^th 20268245

With vinegar?

When you buy a jar of pickles labeled “in vinegar,” you’re looking for their tangy, crunchy flavor to go with cold cuts, sandwiches, or salads. You expect to find small gherkins preserved in vinegar, with salt and herbs, but is that really the case?
July 15^th 20261,8054.8

Congratulate the chef

You've just finished a meal that you really enjoyed. The server approaches with the usual question: “How was it?” And then, as a natural reflex, you simply reply, “Yes, it was very good.” However, when the meal was truly outstanding, this brief exchange deserves a little more. .
July 7^th 20261,293 35

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Parsley stems

Parsley, whether curly or flat, is a delicious ingredient in many recipes, where it is used both raw and cooked. When used raw, in a salad for example, where it always provides, alone or with other herbs, a remarkable freshness, only the leaves are kept. And when used cooked?
July 28^th 202511 K 13

Different kinds of pastry and dough

When cooking in general, and particularly in baking, we can make and use many different kinds of pastry and dough. All built on the same "base": flour - a powder to which we add fat, liquid or both to produce the dough which is then cooked. .
November 6^th 2012114 K 14.0

Cooking time for pasta

What is as good and simple as pasta? Not much, I think, and it's so easy to prepare: boiling water, salted (or not, depending on your taste), a few minutes of boiling and it's ready. The only "difficulty", so to speak, is the respect of the cooking time and the risk of, unfortunately, overcooking...
July 18^th 201926 K4.6

Toss the salad

When you've finished preparing a salad, green or otherwise, it's usually time to add the dressing and toss. It's often said to "toss the salad", which means to season and mix. Is it easy? Not so easy...
March 8^th 202414 K5

The right size of zucchini

When you buy zucchini at the market, you're often offered a wide variety of sizes, from very small to very large. But which ones to choose? Here are a few tips.
September 9^th 202412 K5