(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)
By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" may not have gotten a best picture Oscar nod in the recently announced nominations for the February 28 event. However, the film vying to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, is certainly a popcorn-worthy flick that has fans vying for how many times they can view it. One Austin, Texas, enthusiast saw it nine times in the first weekend alone.
If you are in such a viewership race, or just in a sprint to see as many nominated films as possible before the big night, why not spice things up a bit and bag your own zesty popcorn blends. Snack on them as you complete your own ballots, bring along as hostess gifts to an Oscar party or serve at your own bash.
The cheddar cheese popcorn that follows gets a further perk from cayenne pepper and mustard powder. Sweet caramel corn-peanut clusters enhance their performance with curry powder.
Other seasonings from your supermarket's spice aisle for your consideration to make popcorn award worthy in seconds:
- Chinese five-spice blend
- Italian spice blend
- Mexican spice blend
- Pumpkin pie spice blend
Fun fare like this also proves food preparation can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun - and fast. The creative combinations are delicious proof that everyone has time for creating homemade specialties and, more importantly, the healthy family togetherness that goes along with it!
Another benefit: You - and your kidlet helpers - effortlessly become a better cook, since these are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations. They can't help but draw "wows" from family members and guests.
Cheddar Cheese-Cayenne Popcorn
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, cheddar cheese powder (see Note)1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups popped popcorn
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Yields 4 servings.
In a large bowl, combine the butter, cheddar cheese powder, mustard powder, cayenne pepper and the popcorn. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Serve immediately.Note: Cheese powders are sold in many supermarkets as popcorn toppings and are available online from companies like
The Spice House and
The Great American Spice Company.
-
FoodNetwork.comSpicy Caramel Corn-Peanut Clusters
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for oiling aluminum foil in baking pan
1/3 cup popcorn kernels
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 & 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup salted peanuts (5 ounces)
Yields about 12 cups.
Heat oil with 3 kernels in a 3-quart heavy saucepan, covered, over moderate heat until 1 or 2 kernels pop. Remove lid and carefully and quickly add remaining kernels, then cook, covered, shaking pan frequently, until kernels stop popping, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and uncover.
Line bottom of a large shallow baking pan with foil. Lightly oil foil. Melt butter in a 6-quart heavy pot over moderate heat. Add brown sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring, then boil, without stirring, until syrup registers 300 F on a candy thermometer, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pot from heat.
Using a wooden spoon or a heatproof spatula, stir salt, curry powder, black pepper and baking soda into syrup, then quickly stir in peanuts and popcorn to coat. Immediately spread mixture in baking pan as thinly and evenly as possible. Cool completely, then break into bite-size pieces.
-Adapted from
Epicurious.com
QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK: Bob Harper recently moved from trainer to host of NBC's long-running "
The Biggest Loser" weight loss series. He followed up his New York Times number-one selling "
The Skinny Rules" with "
Skinny Habits: The 6 Secrets of Thin People." Habit 3 is "reengineer your environment" and it meshes with how Harper says he has revamped the television show this season. Contestants' homes, he told People magazine, will be treated "like what it really is, a rehab center." In "Skinny Habits" Harper writes: "
Walk around your home and try to identify every possible cue or 'fat trap'...in the place, [like] the massive coffee mugs that more often than not are filled with hot cocoa and not coffee, the collapsible trays that make it easy to eat in front of the TV, the really disorganized workout-clothes drawer."
Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet(Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
