Ragin' Cajun Popcorn

What's more fun than popcorn? "Ragin' Cajun Popcorn" (page 4) just might be! The very first recipe of this book (but the 396th recipe I've tried), this offering really starts the book off with a bang!! Popped corn is tossed with a highly flavorful and HOT blend of spices, including oregano, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic, onion powder, celery salt, and cayenne pepper. These are flavorful spices known to Cajun cuisine, and they do pack a flavor punch. The biggest challenge here is getting the spices to adhere to the popcorn if you use the air popped method, thereby omitting the oil. One solution is to lightly spray the popcorn with water or Braggs Aminos prior to adding the spices, being careful to add just a spritz or two so the popcorn doesn't get soggy. If you choose to use oil, however, you certainly don't need ¼ cup of oil for 1/3 cup popcorn kernels. You will find that just 2 teaspoons is enough to pop the corn, cutting the fat content from the oil down from 54 grams of fat and 477 calories to just 9 grams of fat and 79 calories (for the entire batch). And you know how popcorn is, once you start eating it, it's hard to stop! Those calories and fat grams could add up very quickly!

Keeping it "McDougall Friendly" checklist:

                                                                                                                            

• Use air popped popcorn so you won't have to use oil in the popping process. Spritz the popped corn with water or Braggs Aminos before adding the spices so they will stick.