Vegan Practically

If you think about it, the possibilities for vegan snacking are endless. So many favourite snacks like potato chips and pretzels are already vegan (assuming vegan seasonings of course). Lots of really good chocolate is vegan. And thankfully, popcorn is both vegan and easy to make.

I like air popping, either in the microwave or with an air popper (mine is broken and I have been patiently waiting for this one to go on sale, and today it did!). In the meantime, I’ve been using the ecolution popper (mine is black, pictured beside the popcorn above). I just put some popping kernels in it, stick it in the microwave for two or three minutes until there are more than ten seconds between pops, and voilà! It’s very limited in capacity and there are a lot of unpopped kernels, so I’m looking forward to getting my new air popper this weekend.

I’m told you can try air popping on the stove top but I’ve only ever made stove-top popcorn with a bit of oil. There is absolutely nothing wrong with oil but one of my quirks is that I don’t like greasy or sticky hands. And so I don’t like to eat anything greasy or sticky or messy with my hands. So for my own preference, why use oil if I don’t have to?

The great thing about popcorn is that it is super amenable to toppings. Of course the most popular is a salt and butter combo. Melted vegan butter works fine for this. Back to the greasy hands thing—I cannot do buttered popcorn.

I like salt, so to me salted popcorn is perfect. I have recently read that if you gently mist your popcorn with some water or lemon juice, the topping will stick better. Oil or butter also makes things adhere. And I’ve read about using maple syrup (too sticky for me considering the way popcorn requires grabbing handfuls out of a bowl).

Besides salt, you can top your popcorn with so many yummy things: chili powder, cinnamon sugar, herbs like oregano or basil, seasonings like Mrs Dash, nutritional yeast mixed with some Tabasco, salt and pepper, paprika or curry powder.

I also like add-ins like raisins or chocolate or chocolate-covered raisins, nuts, potato chips, pretzels, or my latest discovery, mini pita BBQ crackers (don’t knock ’em ’til you try ’em!).

If you don’t want to deal with making it, then I have a recommendation for you. There’s a great popcorn maker from Quebec called French Cancan that sells big bags of vegan popcorn. Even the “double butter” flavour has no dairy. They use canola oil and sunflower oil instead. Unlike a lot of other popcorn (and especially microwave popcorn), there are no chemicals in their product. For example, the ingredient list for the “sweet and salty” flavour (my favourite) is: Non-GMO popcorn, cane sugar, sunflower oil and/or canola oil, sea salt. Skinny Pop has a similarly stream-lined ingredient list, also dairy-free and free of palm oil (something to watch for in microwave popcorn).

The thing about popcorn — whether you make your own or buy it already-popped — is you can customize it to what you love. I plan to tuck into a bowl of popcorn tossed in salt and pepper later. It’s the perfect Friday night treat.

Bon appetit!