Cowboy Caviar

Bursting with color and packed with flavor, this cowboy caviar takes just 15 minutes to whip up. Black-eyed peas and veggies are marinated in a tangy vinaigrette, creating a fresh and delicious dip.

Cowboy caviar (also known as Texas caviar) is sort of a bean salad meets pico de gallo concoction containing black-eyed peas and a host of other ingredients like corn, tomatoes, onion, and peppers. The vegetables are diced into small bite-size pieces and tossed in a tangy, slightly spicy vinaigrette dressing. Dietitian and cookbook author Helen Corbitt is often credited with creating this pseudo caviar in the 1940s. She called her creation pickled black-eyed peas. Her version had a much shorter ingredient list and consisted of black-eyed peas, onion, and garlic marinated in oil and vinegar.

Since its inception, cowboy caviar recipes have evolved and even gone viral with TikTok cooks adding ingredients like peaches, olives, green onion, mangoes, cilantro, feta cheese, cucumbers, and avocados. That’s one of the great things about this recipe – the sky’s the limit when it comes to the ingredients you can add.

I kept things pretty traditional with my version of cowboy caviar. In keeping with Ms. Corbitt’s original legume choice, I used black-eyed peas. You could substitute black beans, navy beans, or even chick peas. For convenience, I used canned peas. If you’re watching your sodium intake, draining and rinsing the canned peas reduces the sodium content by about 35 percent.

This recipe also calls for corn. I used thawed frozen corn. Depending on the season and availability, grilled corn cut straight from the cob would be delicious as well. I added fresh diced tomatoes, orange bell pepper, and red onion for additional color and crunch. Finely diced jalapeño pepper provided a little heat and cilantro turned up the fresh vibe.

The splash of spice in this cowboy caviar comes mostly from the jalapeño pepper. I recently noticed a lot of social media chatter about how to pick a spicier jalapeño. Apparently, a telltale sign of heat can be found in the appearance of the skin. For a mild pepper, look for smooth skin. Hotter peppers have striations or white stretch marks. I did my own taste test and must say, the one with the white markings was a bit hotter. The smooth-skinned jalapeño tasted pretty much like a green pepper. While there’s plenty of variation in the level of heat in hot peppers, this is just one “unscientific” selection guideline you might want to try. Remember that the seeds and white membranes inside the pepper add heat as well. Depending on your preferred level of spice, add them to the recipe or remove them.

While lots of recipes for cowboy caviar rely on store-bought Italian dressing for the marinade, I prefer a simple, homemade vinaigrette consisting of olive oil, fresh-squeezed lime juice, red wine vinegar, sugar, chili powder, cumin, fresh minced garlic, salt, and black pepper. It’s the perfect flavor profile for this blend of peas and veggies.

If you have time, chill this dip for a couple hours before serving. This allows the flavors to blend. Give the “caviar” a good stir right before serving to redistribute the flavorful vinaigrette. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Beyond serving it like a salsa with corn chips, there are lots of ways to enjoy cowboy caviar. Use it as a topping on baked or grilled seafood and chicken. Serve it as a stand-alone bean salad. Spoon it over rice or a baked potato. Tuck it into tacos, burritos, or quesadillas. The uses for this yummy salsa/bean salad/vegetable side dish/dip/condiment are many.

To your health,

Darlene

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COWBOY CAVIAR

Yield: 12 servings

Serving Size: 1/3 cup

Prep: 15 minutes

Ready: 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice

• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 can (15.5 ounce) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed

• 1 cup diced orange bell pepper

• 1/2 cup diced tomato (about 1 small Roma tomato)

• 1/3 cup finely diced red onion

• 1/4 cup finely diced jalapeño pepper

• 1/4 cup minced cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, lime juice, vinegar, sugar, chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt, and black pepper.

2. In a large bowl combine black-eyed peas, corn, bell pepper, tomato, onion, jalapeño pepper, and cilantro.

3. Pour dressing over vegetable mixture and toss to coat. For best flavor, refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Nutrition Information per Serving

76 Calories, 4 g Total fat, 0.5 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 129 mg Sodium, 9 g Total carbohydrate, 2 g Dietary fiber, 2 g Total sugars, 0 g Added sugars, 2 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 10 mg (0%) Calcium, 0 mg (0%) Iron, 163 mg (4%) Potassium

Adapted from a recipe by Ree Drummond

© 2024 RECIPES MADE HEALTHY BY DARLENE ZIMMERMAN, MS, RD LLC

Cowboy Caviar

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