I was happy to learn that popcorn is the healthiest snack food you can eat. That is good news, because ever since I used to watch my mom crank the handle on the family’s old stove-top, corn popper, popcorn has been one of my favorite comfort foods. I am sure one of the reasons I always enjoyed going to a theater to see a movie, was getting to eat popcorn, even when we sometimes smuggled our homemade popcorn in to avoid the inflated theatre prices.
Research shows that popcorn has more beneficial antioxidants than fruits and vegetables. The polyphenols are concentrated in the hull of the popcorn. Popcorn is one of the few grains where you actually eat the “whole grain”. Foods labelled as “whole grain” only have 50% by weight whole grain. Eating one serving of popcorn gives you 70% of your daily requirement for whole grain.
The bad news in all this is that they are talking about eating popcorn healthily, not covered with salt and butter. To be really healthy, you need to air pop it, without the oil. I guess a little butter and salt is okay, but I of course rationalize, that even with the butter and salt you still get the antioxidants and whole grain fibers.
We make our popcorn without oil in our microwave, using a silicone popper called a Hotpop (below). It is fast, very easy to use, and requires no cleaning. We just put the popcorn kernels in the bottom of the bowl to the lines on the side, unfold the bowl, put on the silicone lid, then put it in the microwave. Fortunately, our microwave has a button for Popcorn.
Of course, I am not entirely healthy with my popcorn. I always dribble some butter on it, salt it, then then I add MSG (I love the stuff), and finally for some fire, I sprinkle on some crushed red pepper flakes. Okay, okay, I know you are shuddering, but I only eat it about once a month, and it is a “snack” after all. Of course, now that popcorn has been given the “healthy” designation, I am sure I can justify eating it more often.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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