[1] You can add popcorn to any green salad (photo © National Popcorn Board).
[2] Jalapeño Popper Salad with popcorn, a whole grain (photo © Just Salad | NYC).
[3] Popcorn, a whole-grain snack, also adds fiber to salads and other foods (photo © Crunch Daddy [now closed]).
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Popcorn in a salad? Well, popcorn’s a whole grain, just like barley, brown rice, corn and quinoa. So why not?
Here’s a fun idea from Laura Pensierio, executive chef at Just Salad in New York City.
Called the Jalapeño Popper Salad, it includes kettle corn, fresh jalapeños and mandarin oranges with lettuces.
We used regular popcorn instead of kettle corn in our re-creation to avoid the sugar; although the sugar that coats kettle corn (the sugar coating on the corn keeps it from getting soggy).
But the popcorn’s just as good plain and less crisp. You can use cheese corn or other flavored popcorn, herbed or spiced, and add it after the dressing, as we’ve done below.
And if you don’t like much heat in your food, pass up the jalapeños for a few grinds of fresh pepper. Or switch the jalapeño for chopped broccoli.
RECIPE #1: POPCORN JALAPEÑO SALAD
Ingredients
Your favorite greens
Minced jalapeños (remove ribs and seeds to limit the heat)
Mandarin or orange segments*
Radishes or anything else you like that’s red
Vinaigrette
Popcorn
Preparation
1. MIX all the salad ingredients except the popcorn. Toss with vinaigrette.
2. GARNISH with the popcorn. Serve immediately.
RECIPE #2: VITAMIN C SNIFFLE-FIGHTING SALAD
Chef Laura has also crafted a “Cold-Be-Gone” salad, focusing on ingredients with lots of vitamin C.
Ingredients
Bell peppers
Kale
Spinach
Tomatoes
Lemon† vinaigrette (substitute lemon juice for the vinegar in a 3:1 proportion of oil:vinegar)
After we checked the list below, we added broccoli, snow peas and sundried tomatoes.
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