I’m so excited about the discoveries I made over the weekend. I learned the easiest recipe ever for making popcorn that’s delicious and good for me. I also learned popcorn can be beautifying. Scientists recently reported their discovery that popcorn contains a surprisingly large amount of antioxidants. Yes, antioxidants! – those lovelies that help protect our skin from damaging free radicals in the environment, including those brought on by sun exposure.

Add this to the fact that popcorn is a good source of fiber and we’re talking about a yummy treat that rocks. I absolutely adore popcorn. But the popcorn I usually eat are the microwave or movie theater varieties, which generally contain stuff that’s unhealthy.

Microwave bag popcorn usually contains nasty chemicals and is often high in fat (at least the kind I like). And certainly my heart broke years ago when the Center for Science in the Public Interest announced that a large bag of microwave popcorn contains tons of saturated fat and as much fat as SIX Big Macs – that’s without the mystery “butter” topping. Add the “butter” and you’re adding on another couple of Big Macs.

Even knowing that, I still adore movie theater popcorn and get it every time I go to the movies. But I’m trying to turn a healthier leaf and break the habit so I was elated when I came across this recipe.

The Super Easy, Healthy Recipe

You can make healthy popcorn with a brown paper bag, a piece of tape, and a microwave. Seriously. It makes perfect sense that you can pop plain popcorn kernels in the microwave. It just hadn’t occurred to me. I was going to buy an air popper to make healthy popcorn. But now I’m going to skip it.

I found this recipe on the Vitamin G blog on Glamour.com (great blog, by the way!) and it works like a charm.

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/3 cup popcorn kernels (I used organic popcorn I bought in bulk at a health food store – my favorite is Rainbow Co-Op Grocery in San Francisco)
• One medium-size brown bag (about the same size as the bags used for regular microwave popcorn)
• One piece of tape (I used a piece of Scotch tape)

Directions

• Add popcorn to bag.
• Fold bag a couple times and tape closed.
• Place bag in microwave with folded side up.
• Microwave for two to three minutes, until there’s about five seconds between pops.
• Sprinkle with salt or other spices (I used the organic Trocomare herb seasoned salt shown in the pic, which I also got at Rainbow).

I made a couple bags with this recipe. The popcorn came out nice and fluffy sans the chemical goo of regular microwave popcorn. Afterward, I melted a bit of butter in the microwave and drizzled that on top. I know that’s not a healthy addition. But I adore butter. And it’s still a healthier alternative to whatever they stick in those microwave popcorn concoctions and waaaaay better than movie theater popcorn. I may just start sneaking in a bag of this in next time I go to the movies.

Do Tell

Ever try this recipe? Do you like to munch on popcorn? Are you addicted to microwave or movie theater popcorn? Do tell.

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