Cilantro Lime Popcorn

Ever since we started making popcorn on the stovetop I have been addicted.  I wait for Friday night when my kids say “it’s movie night, right?”  because movie night at our house means popcorn.  Popcorn on the stovetop is so much better than microwave popcorn and really takes no extra time or effort.  After a month of our newly formed movie night tradition I was ready to up the ante a bit with the popcorn.  Easy and delicious, adding spices to your popcorn is fun and provides endless flavor combinations.  So far we’ve stuck with savory flavors…no need to give the kiddos extra sugar right before bedtime (!) but we are looking forward to some sweet and sticky combinations in the next few weeks which we will try out around lunch time.

Today we used three simple flavors- salt, lime and cilantro.  They are a match made in heaven and have been found to be a tried and true flavor combination.  We started by zesting a lime.  In a mortar bowl we added dried cilantro and a pinch of black Hawaiian sea salt and ground it until it formed a fine powder.  We made our popcorn by adding about one tablespoon of oil to the bottom of a heavy bottomed pan.  The bottom of the pan was then lined with a single layer of popcorn kernels.  We put a lid on it and cooked it over a medium heat until we could begin to hear the popping of the corn.  At this point we tipped the lid a tiny bit to let the steam out.  Allowing it to stay over the flame for about two minutes we then took it off as it continued to pop.  When the popping stopped we removed the lid and drizzled the corn with olive oil and then tossed it with the cilantro salt powder.  We finished this off by sprinkling the top with our lime zest.

Oh. My. God.  This is so good you guys! My greatest tip is to go easy with the salt.  Some salts are saltier than others…this is true for the Hawaiian sea salt.  A tiny pinch goes a long way.  Think of all the flavor combos you can make! We can’t wait to try out more.  What are your favorite flavors? We’d love to know!