Love and Olive Oil

Olive Oil Popcorn

Spicy Olive Oil Popcorn

You know those days, when you’ve eaten dinner, but maybe it’s too late for dessert (or maybe you’ve already eaten dessert) and you still feel the need to munch? Maybe you’re watching a movie on a Friday night and to you, movies just aren’t complete without popcorn? Whatever your reason, sometimes we all just need a snack.

Enter the air popper. Yes, we have one. We’ve decided that this little unitasker is worth our precious cabinet space. You may feel otherwise, but we love our little popper.

One of our favorite snacks is freshly popped popcorn drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Yes, we kind of ripped the idea from Trader Joe’s (whose olive oil popcorn is practically like crack), but we’ve adopted it as our own.

Until now, however, we’ve stuck to plain old extra virgin. The fruitier the better. You’re only using a few tablespoons so you might as well use the good stuff. You may feel that popcorn is useless unless it is smothered in butter (and I think I’ve expressed my love for butter enough already this week), so let’s give the olive oil some love, too. Because it truly makes an otherwise ordinary snack extraordinary. This may be the shortest, simplest recipe I’ve ever posted. It may also be one of our all-time favorites.

Take it up another notch and use a fiery chili-infused olive oil, like the one the fine folks at Nudo were kind enough to send (they also sent me a sample of their stone ground lemon, which sounds divine, but maybe not on popcorn). But the chili… oh the chili! Spicy. Sassy. Delicious.

So for once (and I don’t say this often), put down the butter, and give this a try.

Olive Oil Popcorn

Makes 4 snack-size servings

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Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 1 teaspoon table or popcorn salt (fine grain), or to taste
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil of your choice

Directions:

  1. Place popcorn kernels in air popper and pop according to manufacturers directions (alternatively, you can make ‘air-popped’ popcorn in the microwave, simply put kernels in a brown paper bag. Fold over top of bag multiple times. Microwave on high for about 4 minutes or until the pops are more than 1 second apart).
  2. Transfer popcorn to a large bowl (much larger than the actual quantity of popcorn). Drizzle over olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, and toss to coat. Continue adding olive oil until you achieve your desired coverage. Sprinkle with salt again and toss until evenly coated.
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Love & Olive Oil loves olive oil… do you?

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405 Comments

  1. My favorite snack is mac and cheese!

  2. And my favorite snack is green smoothies!! MMM!

  3. I’m a L&OO facebook fan!

  4. Honestly, popcorn is my favorite snack. Rosemary and Garlic to be exact and covered in parmesean cheese, it really is divine ;)

  5. Oh, there’s so many! I love snaking on crackers of any kind, especially cheesy ones.

  6. peanut butter and raisins on Granny Smith apple slices – like ants on a log but with apple instead of celery. I am a fan on Facebook and of your blog in general.

  7. also tweeted and became a fan on facebook :)

  8. i “like” u on fbook!

  9. fave snack has to be jumbo video sour cream and chive popcorn… oh i does for it :)

  10. my favorite snack is pita chips and hummus, or nutella and banana if i’m craving something sweet.

  11. Love this idea! I’ve got some truffle-flavored olive oil that would be divine on popcorn :)

    Personally, when I’m having a snack craving, I go with graham crackers with peanut butter and slices of banana all layered together :)

  12. All time favorite snack?? That is so hard. It changes all the time! If I’m trying to be healthy-it would be soy crisps or mixed nuts. If I’m depressed/tired, it’s a toasted pretzel roll. If I’m with my sister and I don’t care about consuming 800 calories in one sitting, it’s home-made chex mix. Mmmmmmmm.

    I have a recipe blog too! Check it out-http://www.shesveggingout.blogspot.com

  13. Growing up, my friend’s mom always made popcorn, but I couldn’t figure out what she did that made it different. That popcorn was canonized in my brain for years, and it was only a few months ago I found out it was just olive oil popcorn. But now I add truffle salt instead of regular salt, and it’s even better, and maintains the snack memory from my youth.

  14. Ummm… my favorite snack might be peanut butter!

  15. Not sure if I have a fav snack as I don’t snack much – but I do have an affinity for dark chocolate!

  16. That’s a tough one! A few of my favorite snacks: cheese toast, almond butter and anything (carrots or apples or pretzels), or greek yogurt and granola.

  17. My favorite snack is graham crackers with pb and raspberry jam. Must be bonne maman!

  18. I have lots of favorite snacks but I would have to say store-bought wise would be Reese’s, but I never buy that stuff when I can make some delicious Chocolate Rice Krispie Marshmallow PB Brownies. That’s right, I said it.

  19. I tweeted! Woop Woop!

  20. kalamata olives, right out of the jar :)

  21. just tweeted! @amy_donovan

  22. i am a shameless chip lover, especially the kettle-cooked kind. yum! thanks for the fun giveaway!

    amy

  23. Graham crackers and milk.

  24. I’m now a fan on fb. :)

  25. It’s bad but my all-time favorite snack is french fries! :)

  26. My favorite snack is potato chips.

  27. Also tweeted about the giveaway.

  28. I am a fan of Love & Olive Oil on facebook!

  29. Following @loveandoliveoil on Twitter already.

  30. Plain old roasted almonds! Great giveaway!

    Cheers and happy Holidays to you and yours,

    *Heather*

  31. I like you on Facebook!

  32. My favorite snack is thick cut, salty, kettle cooked potato chips! I have such a salty tooth!

  33. Any kind of cheese and hummus with pita crisps!

  34. I tweeted about this giveaway.

  35. I really do love Olive Oil!

    Though my favorite snack of all time is Muddy Buddys.There isn’t anything healthy about them, so I only make them in December for the holidays.

  36. Posted to Twitter, and I’m a fan.

  37. I’m a FB fan.

  38. My favorite snack is sundried tomato wheat thins with goat cheese. Yum.

  39. My favorite snack is a good chunk of chocolate.

  40. My favorite snack is yogurt in the morning and POPCORN anytime :)

  41. I am a fan on Facebook!

  42. ohhh, so many choices! I think my top is sprouted cinnamon-raisin bread, toasted and spread with almond or peanut butter. It’s warm and comforting, and makes me feel satisfied but not ready to bust. Nuts and popcorn come in a very close second!

  43. My favorite snack is most definitely olives so you can see why I would want the oil :)

  44. I just “liked” Love & Olive Oil on Facebook! :)

  45. Oooooh, great question! My all-time favorite snack would have to be kettle potato chips!

  46. All time favorite? Pretty much anything with sugar. Sometime I like the salty option, but sugar is the go to. Oh, and I became a facebook fan yesterday!

  47. my all time favorite snack is bread and olive oil!

  48. And I’m a fan on fbook! :)

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