Stove Top Popcorn

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! I promise to have some good ones coming up, but to be honest I haven't had a lot of time to cook a lot of great meals. I have, however, been eating a lot of snacks. Today's recipe is so simple I almost feel guilty sharing it, but consider it an "appetizer" for some upcoming great meals! I did make seitan earlier this week so stay tuned.

This yielded the massive portion seen throughout. I'll admit it: I ate it all in one sitting. By myself. But I was definitely pretty full by the end.

Stove Top Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks. It is a great alternative to the bland and rarely vegan microwaveable version, free of preservatives, and available at Whole Foods in bulk for incredible prices considering how much bang you get for your buck. Seriously, just a handful or kernels fills a great big bowl.

Even when I was a kid I liked to put black pepper on my popcorn, but since I started making stove top popcorn I've really gone nuts, as you can tell from this recipe. That's the other great thing about popcorn: you can really season it however you want to depending on what you're craving for a snack, whether it be sweet, salty, or spicy. For myself I usually just go with all three.

Not pictured: white sugar.

Ingredients:

-1 handful popcorn kernels

-vegetable oil to cover bottom of a large saucepan

-spices and flavorings of your choosing

To make:

1. Coat the bottom of a large saucepan with vegetable oil. Add just one kernel, cover, and heat over Med High heat.

2. When that kernel pops, quickly add the remaining kernels (~1 handful equals one generous serving) and re-cover the pot. If you dilly dally at all those kernels are going to go everywhere, which I regrettably know from experience. (Optional: again, working very quickly, at this point I also sprinkle on maybe a quarter to half teaspoon of white sugar before I cover the pot. This way the sugar will stick to the kernels when they pop and give it kind of a "kettle corn" sweetness.)

Illustrating the point of how quickly you need to get this covered: I wanted to take a picture before any kernels had popped but by the time I turned my camera on I was too late.

Shake shake shake... shake shake shake...

3. Swiftly shake the covered sauce pan over the burner until you don't hear anymore pops. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl as quickly as possible, otherwise some kernels may burn to the bottom.

Taking the time to add all the seasonings is a wonderful exercise in impulse control.

4. Add whatever spices you like to the bowl, shaking vigorously to ensure maximum dispersal. As pictured above, I used salt, black pepper, cumin, tumeric, ancho red chili pepper, nutritional yeast, and curry powder. But feel free to use whatever you like/ are craving. Queue up some Star Trek and chow down!