Popcorn-ish (Raw)

I think that the absence of a cafeteria, my curious nature, and cravings for various cooked foods have all encouraged me to experiment a lot more with food lately. And you all are the lucky benefactors, spared of having to try all of my not-so-successful attempts. While having a Pirate marathon this weekend, one of the aforementioned cravings hit me like a ton of bricks: popcorn. Alas there is no popcorn in the raw world, but I have found an alternative that I like. You guys should all give it a try as a healthier alternative to that buttery, salty, calorie-laden gook that is microwave popcorn.

Tools: A large ziplock bag, knife, cutting surface, dehydrator (optional - this stuff is great fresh!)

Ingredients:
One head of cauliflower
Cayenne, to taste
Nutritional yeast, to taste
Salt, to taste

Directions:
1) Cut off the leaves of the cauliflower. Personally, I don't like the trunk part very much, so I usually cut that off too, but you don't have to.
2) Put the whole head down, and cut into slices. cut these slices into pieces. If you imagine the whole head, you should cut it up into small, uniform cube-ish shapes. Or at least attempt to. Leave the pieces fairly large, a little large than real popcorn is fine. If you plan on dehydrating, leave them much larger, as they shrink dramatically when dried.
3) Dump all the pieces into the bag. Sprinkle some salt, cayenne, and nutritional yeast into the bag. Start with tiny amounts; you'd be amazed how far a little of each goes! When you zip it closed, make sure to leave some air in the bag, and then shake! (Kneading the bag works well, too) The cauliflower should turn yellow-orangish.
4) Once the cauliflower seems evenly coated, taste a piece. Add more of anything as desired, and shake some more. Repeat as needed. If you plan on dehydrating, you'll want to be very light with the spices, because the taste will be much more intense after the cauliflower shrinks.

And, a very exciting development is that I bought myself a camera! So from now on, there will be lots of pictures to go with these posts, so you will be able to tell if you are horribly screwing everything up. Here they are:

My "popcorn" in the dehydrator.

Up close. It's orangish!

Sorry I have no "after" pictures. Somehow, none of the pieces made it past a few hours. The downside to dehydrating stuff like this is that it's just so tempting to reach in and grab a bit before they're done. After all, a day is a long time to wait for popcorn! Hope you like the recipe, and wish me luck on continuing this awesome streak of updating.