After the low-fat craze, there is increasing understanding that getting a significant portion of our calories by healthy fats can be very healthy and satisfying. The problem with our diets wasn't too much fat, but too many calories, too much sugar and unhealthy saturated fats.
Oil preference these days is sadly more a matter of fad than science. Even many professional dieticians and nutritionists ignore the science of large studies and their professional organizations. So if you're against canola, you can use a different oil, but for your health you should be following what the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, and National Lipid Association are telling the community: saturated fats lead to heart disease. Seed oils are an excellent source of unsaturated fats. I'm convinced that canola oil is one of the healthiest oils available. Most of the prejudice against it comes from people who don't like the idea of oil coming from large farms and facilities (of course all the oils in supermarkets do), not because they know the nutritional facts. Canola oil is healthier than olive oil given canola oil's higher content of the light omega-3 fatty acid.
"Canola oil is low in saturated fat and contains both omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in a ratio of 2:1. If consumed, it also reduces low-density lipoprotein and overall cholesterol levels, and as a significant source of the essential omega-3 fatty acid is associated with reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality" Wikipedia. "In 2001, researchers at a conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health concluded that the two classes of fatty acid should be consumed in a 1:1 ratio. As of 2007, the Japanese government recommended a ratio of 4:1, while the Swedish government recommended a ratio of 5:1, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science in the United States recommended a ratio of 10:1. (In all cases, the number to the left of the ratio is omega-6 fats, while the number to the right is omega-3s.)" Wikipedia.
"Several sources of information suggest that human beings evolved on a diet with a ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFA) of approximately 1 whereas in Western diets the ratio is 15/1-16.7/1. Western diets are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, and have excessive amounts of omega-6 fatty acids. ... A ratio of 2.5/1 reduced rectal cell proliferation in patients with colorectal cancer, whereas a ratio of 4/1 with the same amount of omega-3 PUFA had no effect. The lower omega-6/omega-3 ratio in women with breast cancer was associated with decreased risk. A ratio of 2-3/1 suppressed inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and a ratio of 5/1 had a beneficial effect on patients with asthma, whereas a ratio of 10/1 had adverse consequences" 2002 study.
So the ratios are all over the place. But the info above makes me think that the high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in western diets is probably an extreme to avoid. These recipes have a ratio of about 3:1.