Minnesota TV Chef's 'Popcorn Salad' Creates Internet Divide

Food Network TV chef Molly Yeh is known for her show Girl Meets Farm that focuses on the food that is made in her home on the North Dakota/Minnesota border. I'm a big fan of her show, and cooking. Molly is always making something really unique that has a Midwest twist to it, and as someone who loves where I'm from, it's nice to see the Midwest represented in the culinary world.

Here in Minnesota, we are known for salads that really aren't salads. Snickers salad, fruit salad, Jell-o salad, a lot of our "salads" are Cool-whip based and don't have much nutritional value. But around these parts, we are used to it. Molly recently created a "popcorn salad" that has the internet divided.

Molly's Crunchy Snap Pea Popcorn Salad starts with a base of homemade popcorn seasoned with a white cheddar popcorn flavoring. It is then covered with a salad dressing that consists of mayonnaise, sour cream, cider vinegar, sugar, Dijon and chopped shallot. Then actual salad ingredients are added to the bowl like sugar snap peas, carrot, celery, and watercress.

I see nothing wrong with this dish. It's a salad that has a base of crunchy popcorn instead of boring old lettuce. It's funky and fresh and I'm here for it.

The internet isn't so on board.

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Facebook comments ranged from people wanting to try it to utter disgust.

Erin Long Mauzy: "She has to hide the popcorn with watercress because she can’t even fathom what she just made."

DeLane Kisse Estes: "I’ve been to a lot of church potlucks in my Midwestern, Lutheran, upbringing. Never, ever, have I seen or heard of a popcorn salad. Her friends from Fargo, (that is still Midwest right?) haven’t heard of it either. Our pastor used to eat popcorn for supper on Sunday’s and I promise it wasn’t in a salad."

John Christopher Verde: "the only salad popcorn belongs to is a medley of butter and kettle corn/cheese flavoring"

Penny Hafner: "Popcorn salad is so yummy. I make mine a little different. I know it sounds weird but it’s so yummy. Ya have to try it just once."

I'm definitely going to be making this for the next potluck I'm invited to. I think it would be an awesome dish to change things up while still being a loose interpretation of a salad, which is what we all live for right?

Check out Molly Yeh's popcorn salad recipe here.

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