The 30-Minute Vegan - Mark Reinfeld [32]
2 large tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup diced red onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
½ teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon seeded and minced jalapeño (optional)
½ teaspoon chile powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne
Sea salt and black pepper
Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well.
Variations
• Try toasting the cumin and chile powder (see page 26).
• For a new kick, replace the tomatoes with papaya, mangoes, pineapple, or tomatillos.
• For a heartier flavor, add ¼ cup toasted pine nuts or toasted pumpkin seeds (see page 90).
• Add 1 cup cooked and cooled (or one 15-ounce can of drained and rinsed) black beans for a more substantial salsa.
Flavored Popcorn
In our circle of friends, there is a profound love and respect for popcorn. We like to invent fun and exciting flavors. Here are three of our favorites. Some like it hot, some like it sweet, and some like it green! All are a lot of fun at parties. Frequently the spirulina variety sits around getting a lot of sideways glances until some adventurous child decides to give the weird stuff a whirl. Next thing you know, it’s the talk of the town. Discerning popcorn aficionados covet the white variety of popcorn, which yields smaller, whiter popcorn that is considerably crisper and crunchier than the yellow kind.
HOT & SPICY POPCORN
SERVES 2 TO 4
½ cup popcorn kernels
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon chile powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1. Pop the corn in an air popper or by the method described in Tips and Tricks. Transfer the popped corn to a clean brown paper bag.
2. Drizzle the olive oil as evenly as possible over the top while shaking it up a little bit. Then add the nutritional yeast, chile powder, garlic powder, cayenne, and salt.
3. Close the top of the bag and shake vigorously. Pour into a bowl and enjoy!
KISS ME AT THE MOVIES CINNAMON-SUGAR POPCORN
SERVES 2 TO 4
½ cup popcorn kernels
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon Sucanat, turbinado sugar, or organic sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt
1. Pop the corn in an air popper or by the method described in Tips and Tricks. Transfer the popped corn to a clean brown paper bag.
2. Drizzle the coconut oil as evenly as possible over the top while shaking it up a little bit. Then add the Sucanat, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Close the top of the bag and shake vigorously. Pour into a bowl and enjoy!
SPIRULINA POPCORN
SERVES 2 TO 4
½ cup popcorn kernels
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon spirulina
¼ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1. Pop the corn in an air popper or by the method described in Tips and Tricks. Transfer the popped corn to a clean brown paper bag.
2. Drizzle the olive oil as evenly as possible over the top while shaking it up a little bit. Then add the nutritional yeast, spirulina, and salt.
3. Close the top of the bag and shake vigorously. Pour into a bowl and get ready to open some minds to the joy of spirulina!
Tips and Tricks
The way you choose to pop your corn is up to you. Either you have a handy-dandy air popper, in which case you just add the popcorn, plug in the machine, and wait for fluffy popcorn. Otherwise you do it the old-fashioned way, which actually yields crunchier, fluffier popcorn. In this case, cover the bottom of a heavy-bottomed pot (make sure it has a lid!) with 2 to 4 tablespoons of safflower or coconut oil. The trick to the crunchiness is not putting the popcorn in until the oil is hot enough to pop it. So throw in two or three kernels, cover with the lid, and wait until they all pop. Then quickly open the lid, toss the rest in, and replace the cover. The popcorn should start popping like crazy within a minute. Shake vigorously to avoid burning. Transfer to a brown paper bag or bowl immediately when you hear the pops minimize to one every few seconds.
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