Popcorn with Truffle Sea Salt

 Ok, so today's recipe isn't necessarily a new or unique idea, and it surely isn't a complicated recipe, but let me tell you it is amazing and I just had to share!

Air popped popcorn has gotten a lot of attention for being a healthy alternative to store bought microwave popcorn or poppers that use oil.  They make air pop popcorn poppers (try saying that one 5 times fast :) ) but what I like to do is make mine in the microwave.

Depending on how much popcorn you want, take between 1/4 - 1/2 cups of un-popped kernels an put them in a brown paper bag and seal it shut with a piece of scotch tape.  There is no oil or butter required.

Just before putting the bag into the microwave I like to shake the bag back and forth, a shimmy if you will, to even out the kernels on the bottom of the bag.  How long to cook the popcorn always depends on how much popcorn you have and how powerful your microwave is.  I usually depend on the "popcorn" button on the front of my microwave (mine is for 1 minute and 55 seconds).  A good tell tale sign of when your popcorn is done, even if the timer hasn't gone off yet, is when you can count two seconds between pops (you can use this rule of thumb for all microwave popcorn).  Doing this will likely ensure that none of your popcorn ends up burnt.

Once your popcorn is done you can put any of your favorite toppings on top.  My usual choice is butter, a little bit of salt, and M&Ms, but I have a bunch of delicious combinations that I will post over time.

This topping is new to me, I just discovered it this week - olive oil and truffle salt.

Over the past year I have fallen in love with Saratoga Olive Oils and vinegars.  While I was in their shop in Burlington, VT  I started looking at all of their sea salts and need up buying the Truffle Sea Salt.  I've never used truffle salt or truffle oil before, but part of what makes the Saratoga Olive Oil Company so great is that they have recipes for all of their products on their website, and sometime customers post in the comments what they use them for.  One of the suggestions in the comments for the truffle sea salt was to put it on popcorn, which is perfect seeing as I LOVE  popcorn!!

So I drizzled a little bit of olive oil over my bowl of popcorn (it probably ended up being 1.5 teaspoons).  Then I sprinkled a pinch of the truffle sea salt over it.

Be warned that this salt is strong and a little bit goes a long way.  But this combination is light and simultaneously adds a fantastic flavor to your snack.  I definitely recommend it!