Coconut Oil Popcorn

Coconut Oil Popcorn

Coconut oil. I first heard about it in reference to its use in movie theater popcorn. Back in the 80s they said the saturated fat in coconut oil was super terrible for our bodies and if eaten in mass quantities it would clog up our arteries irrevocably. That was the 80s, and along with fluffy hair-sprayed  bangs and cheesy romance movies, the coconut oil villain myth has gone by the wayside. Apparently, it's now super healthy for us. My friend Katie over at Riddlelove.com has been using coconut oil for lots of things for a long time, but I thought it was only for superhuman raw food homesteaders like Katie. Bon Appetit Magazine, though, just told me yesterday about the fact that the medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil are actually GOOD for me. Another internet article at Authoritynutrition.com discussed ten different health benefits of coconut oil, including weight loss and better brain function. Awesome. 
I should have listened to Katie sooner, because not only is coconut oil good for you, it helps make food more delicious. Now, full disclosure obligates me to tell you that so far I've only used it on popcorn. Popcorn that I eat every morning for breakfast with a smoothie. At first I only used the coconut oil, but because I limit my sodium, not enough slight saltiness was achieved with my two twists of my sea salt mill. So, I added just a smidge of salted butter when popping to achieve the flavor I wanted. Oh my goodness, this is fabulous popcorn. My husband thought it tasted too coconutty, but the flavor agrees with me: fragrant, slightly nutty, reminiscent of movie popcorn. I LOVE this popcorn. And I expect within a week or so I should be down at least ten pounds and thinking like Einstein.

Coconut Oil Popcorn

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons organic virgin coconut oil
• 1/3 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
• 1/2 tablespoon salted butter
• salt to taste

Instructions:
Get a large popcorn bowl ready and place it to the side of your stove where you'll be popping. In a medium-sized heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the coconut oil. Place two kernels in the pot and cover. When the kernels pop, add the remaining popcorn kernels and the butter. Cover and shake for about 10-15 seconds to distribute the melting butter. Allow popcorn to pop (shaking at this point is unnecessary). If the top starts to come up because of the popcorn, you can shake some of the overflow off into the bowl, put the lid back on and continue to pop until all kernels that are going to pop do so.
Turn heat off and pour popcorn into the bowl. Sprinkle with salt and toss to distribute salt evenly.
Enjoy.
Makes about 8-9 cups of popcorn