Popcorn

Popcorn is so easy and quick to make, and it really is a good healthy snack (as long as it’s not the shop bought sugar laden variety!). We very rarely sit down for a movie in my house without a nice big bowl of popcorn (and usually a hot chocolate too) You can vary the toppings depending on your personal tastes and mood. I’ve listed a few of my favourites below.

First of all, you need to make the corn itself. To do this, simply heat olive oil in a pan and place it over a medium heat, covering with a lid (this is important so the corn doesn’t fly out everywhere when it pops!). It’s a rough-guide but I generally find that using 1 cup of un-popped corn will give you 4 cups when popped, which will serve about 4 people (depending on how much you want, of course!). 

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• Drizzle of olive oil, rapeseed oil or coconut oil
• Nob of butter (optional)
• I cup of popping corn

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the butter (optional). The oil stops the butter from burning and the butter adds to the flavour.
2. Empty the popcorn into the pan and cover immediately (this is very important or it will fly everywhere when it pops)
3. Shake the pan as the popping comences so that the unpoped corns remain at the bottom of the pan and the popped corns rise up. 

Once you’ve made your corn, try out one of the easy toppings:

Balsamic topping

This one is super easy. Simply drizzle 1 tbs of good quality, aged balsamic vinegar over 4 cups of air-popped popcorn and voila!

Dark chocolate & sea salt topping

Ingredients:

50g good-quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao)
A couple of pinches of good-quality sea salt

Method:

This is a personal favourite of mine. Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and mix regularly. Once it’s melted, remove from the heat and grind in the sea salt (about two good grinds or pinches should be enough, so that it’s not too salty) into the chocolate, whilst it is still in its liquid form. Then, using a spoon drizzle the chocolate over 4 cups of air-popped popcorn.

Paprika & chilli topping

Ingredients:

¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp paprika
4 cups of air popped popcorn

Method:

Mix the spices together in a bowl and then sprinkle over your air-popped popcorn, mixing well. Taste, and then add more spices if you want a bit more of a kick!