Popcorn with Benefits

Sometimes we forget about the simple comfort of freshly popped popcorn. Months will go by, with pretzels, tortilla chips, crackers or nuts, and then suddenly a munchy craving will whisper .... popcorn. Typically it's when we find ourselves out of pretzels, tortilla chips, crackers, nuts and such. But that's really a shame. It's also why we remember popcorn with a wisp of nostalgia. A memory for some of us of a time when tortilla chips were the newest kid on the snack block and only came in one flavor ... corn.

Homemade popcorn also brings so much more to the table. First, the smell as it's cooking, Second, it's actually warm and thereby inherently comforting. And finally, for our overstimulated 21st century palates it's refreshingly plain and simple.

And yet it doesn't have to be... lately we've been experimenting with ways to spice up, tweak, and elevate humble popcorn for bar snacks at parties. One current offering is Sweet Glazed Popcorn with crunchy CornNuts and Pumpkin Seeds. That might be more than you want to take on at home while the movie is downloading, but we've been thinking of some quick and easy options for pumping up the volume on popcorn snacking when you tire of the tried and true.

Most of the flavorings added work best when the seasonings are stirred into a little melted butter before tossing with the popcorn. If you really want to avoid that, try spraying the popped popcorn with a little Butter Flavor PAM before adding the seasonings. It just helps it stick.

Palomas with Chipotle
This is the easiest of all and classically Mexican. Look for a product called Buffalo Chipotle Sauce. It's a tall, tapering thin bottle in the Latino Food Section. Just lightly sprinkle freshly popped popcorn with this Chipotle hot sauce and mix thoroughly. Palomas by the way is Spanish for popcorn.

BBQ Popcorn
Melt some butter and stir in a little Paprika, Hickory Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder and Chile Powder. Toss freshly popped popcorn with the seasoned butter.

Italian Cheese
Gently warm some Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a saute pan with a crushed garlic clove. When the oil is infused with the garlic flavor, remove the clove and toss freshly popped popcorn with the garlic oil. Immediately toss in a small handful of room temperature finely shredded Parmesan (or Asiago) cheese, freshly ground pepper and some salt if needed. If you want to really impress, or if it's a particularly spectacular Italian film, you could upgrade to Truffle Oil.

Spicy Wasabi
Mix together a little instant Wasabi powder, ground ginger and sea salt. Toss the freshly popped popcorn with a gently drizzle of toasted sesame oil and then sprinkle with the wasabi seasoning. Use a light hand, wasabi is potent stuff. We think this would also be great with some crumbled seasoned Nori seaweed strips added.

Sweet Spices
Making Kettle or Caramel Corn is time consuming and potentially dangerous if you're not used to hot caramelized sugar. But here's an option when your sweet tooth is vying for your attention. Mix together a little sugar (superfine sugar would be great to use here if you have some on hand), some ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Also don't forget to add a few pinches of salt for balance. Again a little melted butter over the popcorn, then a toss with the sweet spices.

This should give you plenty to play with. When you're ready though, here's some other ideas rattling around in our collective heads....
Curry Powder and Toasted Coconut; Lemon Pepper and Dried Dill Weed; Cocoa, Powdered Sugar & Espresso Powder .... We're sure there's more to come