Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar is one of my favorite side dish recipes to bring to a potluck or BBQ. Black beans, black eyed peas, avocado, tomatoes, and shoepeg corn tossed in a light zesty Italian dressing. Eat with chips or just a fork! There are a lot of recipes out there but this one has withstood the test of time and is really the best.

COWBOY CAVIAR RECIPE

As I carted my kids around to Costco and Walmart today, I thought to myself how did my mom do this with 10 kids?

Ask yourself what’s worse than a Costco trip with three kids?

A Costco trip with five kids in the POURING rain! We were all drenched from head to toe.

They say when you have kids it makes you learn patience but I think I’ve only digressed. My mom is the perfect model of patience.

Believe it or not with ten kids she rarely raised her voice. The handful of times I can remember her losing her patience was after trips to the grocery store.

Picture my mom, with a gaggle of kids, pushing 2-3 grocery carts full of food. We would always try to guess the damage at the register only to be hundreds of dollars off.

I’m not sure at what point we pushed her over the edge but by the time we pulled in our driveway we were told to get out and take the groceries inside while my mom drove off in the car for a moment to herself to regroup.

Surely she earned some credits to curse like a sailor but she didn’t.

I definitely earned at least some PG rated swearing credits today. I guess I’m learning to flex my patience muscle because I didn’t use ’em.

This Cowboy Caviar recipe is always the first thing to be eaten when taken to BBQs. I could eat this alone for lunch. It’s one of my favorite appetizers for feeding a crowd.

My mother-in-law Sheri gave me this recipe. All the measurements are approximate to feel free to adjust it to your tastes.

WHAT IS COWBOY CAVIAR?

Cowboy caviar is sometimes referred to Texas Caviar. You can use chips and eat it as a dip, as a relish on chicken or steak, or just with a fork.

HOW TO MAKE COWBOY CAVIAR

Drain and rinse the black eyed peas, black beans, and corn. Add to a large bowl. Dice the tomatoes, making sure the seeds and insides are removed. You want to do this to make sure that there isn’t too much liquid in the dip.
Add the diced tomatoes and cilantro to the bowl. Slice the green onions finely and add to the bowl. Dice the avocado and squeeze a little of the lime juice over the avocados so they don’t brown as quickly. Squeeze the rest of the lime juice into the bowl.
Add the Italian dressing and stir to coat all the ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Chill in the refrigerator until cold and flavors have marinated together. This is best served the same day as prepared. Serve with tortilla chips.

CAN YOU MAKE COWBOY CAVIAR AHEAD OF TIME?

Yes! I usually make it the day of but you can prepare it a day or two ahead of time. Just make sure to not add the avocado until the day of.

WHAT IS SHOEPEG CORN?

Shoepeg corn is a white sweet corn. It’s smaller then regular corn and has a sweet mild flavor. You can use regular corn as a substitute. Either frozen, canned, or fresh preferably.

OTHER SALAD RECIPES

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can shoepeg corn, drained and rinsed (see note)
4-5 Roma tomatoes, seeds removed and diced or 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
2-3 diced avocados, ripe but still firm
4 green onions, sliced thin
around 1/2 to 3/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
juice of 1-2 limes
ground pepper and salt to taste

Instructions

Drain and rinse the black eyed peas, black beans, and corn. Add to a large bowl. Add the tomatoes and cilantro to the bowl. Slice the green onions finely and add to the bowl. Dice the avocado and squeeze a little of the lime juice over the avocados so they don’t brown as quickly. Squeeze the rest of the lime juice into the bowl. Add the Italian dressing and stir to coat all the ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Chill in the refrigerator until cold and flavors have marinated together. This is best served the same day as prepared. Serve with tortilla chips.

Notes

Source: Sheri Denney

You can also use regular corn or grilled corn when in season.

If making this ahead of time add everything but the avocado and when you add the avocado squeeze a little lime juice over them so they don’t brown as quickly.