Doritos Knock-off Popcorn Seasoning

Well, last night's dinner was completely unimaginative.  We had baked potatoes with butter, topped with broccoli and onions grilled in butter, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper.  It's one of my fall-back meals I make when I don't really feel like cooking or following a recipe.  I can check out, flip on auto-pilot, and dinner just happens.

So I won't bore you with that, but I did want to share my newest favorite snack food with you!


I can't think of high school without thinking about the many lunch hours spent in the band room practicing a new piece or messing around with a couple of good friends over a Pepsi, candy bar, and a bag of nacho Doritos (Yes. Pinnacle of health I was, even then!). There's something about Doritos that are just amazing... open a bag and they're gone in 10 minutes flat!  Even the big bags because there's always someone willing to help you with them!

I did manage to swear off Doritos during my "dieting years" and have never really started eating them again, but that doesn't mean it's not painful to refuse them when somebody offers them and I peer down at the atomic, glowing goodness being reflected by the metallic packaging.  All that being said, a friend recently introduced me to this seasoning recipe that she puts on her popcorn (which I'm also a sucker for) that is a super close second to the Nacho Doritos flavor! Plus, it has the added benefit of not being some unnatural neon color and is guilt-free good for you!

I was so enthralled with it that I made it EVERY night for a straight week and munched on that instead of my usual post-children's-bedtime fare and **blushes** finished the whole HUGE bowl by myself almost every night (my husband's not a popcorn fan... lucky me!).  The crazy thing?  At the end of the week, my belt was down a notch even though it was my only diet change!

The good news is it's pretty easy, the only odd things you are going to need that might not be lying around your house already is a used and cleaned spice container (I like the old Costco ones cause they hold a lot), some nutritional yeast (You can find it at health foods stores.  Ours had it in these by-the-pound bins and you can buy as little or as much as you want.  In my experience it's been flakey like fish food (though it does come in powder) and yes, it is absolutely necessary, it's what gives the mix it's cheesy flavor!), and coconut oil (I imagine you could probably use EVOO, but coconut oil is super good for you and is great for so many other things as well!).

Jessi's Nacho Popcorn Seasoning*
Ingredients:
-1 cup nutritional yeast
-4 teaspoons onion powder
-4 teaspoons garlic powder
-4 teaspoons cumin
-4 teaspoons paprika
-4 teaspoons chili powder
-1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like it, you want regular Doritos, use 1/2 teaspoon, you want the spicier variety, use one teaspoon)
-8 teaspoons sea salt
Instructions:

Miss Pickey-pickerson Approved! 

1. Measure ingredients into a blender and pulse until it's completely mixed.
2. Using a funnel, carefully pour mixture into a used spice container (yields about 1 1/3 cups)
To Prepare Popcorn: 
1. Heat about 4-5 teaspoons coconut oil in a saute pan on high heat. When melted, add 1/4-1/3 cup popcorn kernels and cover.  Shake to coat in the oil then shake every 15-20 seconds to keep kernels and popped corn from burning.
2. Turn out into large bowl when you have 2-3 seconds of space between pops.
3. Wipe out pan and heat 4-5 more teaspoons of oil until it's melted.
4. Drizzle 1/2 the coconut oil on the popcorn, moving a spoon back and forth through the stream. Stir and repeat with the second 1/2 of oil and stir again.
5. Sprinkle a generous coating of the popcorn seasoning over the top and stir, turning the bowl as you stir. Repeat. Enjoy!


So I realize you might have some questions about a few of the ingredients I used in this recipe.  When I share recipes people often have a couple of the same questions about how or why I prepare some of the dishes the way I do, and I wanted to take a minute to answer those in case if you were wondering as well!

What's with the coconut oil?
The first reason is that it has lots of health benefits. It has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties and it's a healthier fat than a lot of other sources to start with.  Here's a Dr. Oz article that talks a little more about it:
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/surprising-health-benefits-coconut-oil
The second reason, in it's simplest form, is that many oils need to be heated too hot to extract the oil and because of how it's made, come to us already rancid on the shelf, covered up by lots of over-processing.  
http://www.draxe.com/are-you-eating-rancid-oils/
Some would call it conspiracy but why would you mess with it if they can't all agree on a conclusive answer? Try oils that come from being pressed and don't need to be heated, like butter, extra virgin olive oil, and coconut oil.

Tell me about the nutritional yeast, I've never even heard of it!
It's yeast that's been deactivated by cooking and is popular among vegans for it's cheesy flavor that's hard to get from other natural sources. It's high in protein and B-vitamins (a happy vitamin) and low in fat and sodium.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/12/nutrional-yeast-not-just-for-vegans_n_1420734.html

Himalayan Rock Salt

Why sea salt? What's wrong with regular salt??
Refined table salt is striped of it's natural minerals and has toxic additives.  I personally use pink Himalayan rock salt because it's what is available to me at my local Costco.  I've also heard good things about Celtic Sea Salt.
http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/food/food-for-thought-is-salt-good-or-bad






*I think this is probably the web site my friend originally got the popcorn recipe from:
http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/dorito-flavored-popcorn-dairy-free/