Veggie Delights: Snack Time! Popcorn and Strawberry Lemonade!

I decided to share something a little different this week – a snack instead of a full-blown meal.  I picked up a copy of Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook at the library about a month ago, and these popcorn and strawberry lemonade recipes both jumped out at me right away.  I immediately made them, and they were AMAZING. I knew I would have to share these at some point, so now I am!

I’m forewarning you, though.  Both of these are not healthy, and contain lots of sugar and fat.  I’m not trying to claim otherwise.  I RARELY eat like this, but I think it’s okay every now and then for a snack splurge.  And what a delicious splurge it was!  Definitely worth it. 

Garlic Butter and Parmesan Cheese Flavored Gourmet Popcorn:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (makes a huge bowl of popcorn)
• 6 garlic cloves minced/pressed
• one stick of butter
• shredded/grated Parmesan cheese
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Pop the 1/2 cup of kernels.  I used an air popper, so my popcorn was completely unflavored before adding the flavors above.  My 1/2 cup kernels popped a HUGE bowl of popcorn as seen above.  Not sure of the exact amount of popped popcorn.  You can kind of judge it, and add flavors accordingly, though.  That’s what I did.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan on the stovetop.  Saute the garlic in the butter for a couple minutes, until golden blonde.
3. Pour the butter over the popcorn.  Mix thoroughly.
4. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the popcorn, and mix that in really well too.  The recipe calls for 1/2 a cup, but you can just add however much you want.  I love cheese. 
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Enjoy!

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups chopped strawberries
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 24 ounces sparkling water

Directions:

1. Make sure your strawberries are rinse, chopped, and ready to go.
2. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan.  Stir over medium heat on stove-top until the sugar dissolves and the liquid becomes clear.
3. Put the sugar/water mixture, strawberries, and lemon juice in a blender.  Puree until blended.
4. In a pitcher, combine the pureed mixture with the sparkling water.
5. Serve the strawberry lemonade in tall glasses with ice cubes!  Straws make it even more fun!    Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this snack.  I think the two go wonderfully together.  Be sure to let me know what you think if you do decide to try it!

And oh – you might want to grab a huge stack of napkins…that popcorn gets quite messy…

What About You: What kind of fun snacks are you enjoying as summer wraps up and school starts back?