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- When it comes to party dips and appetizers, this cowboy caviar is one that everyone can't get enough of. It's a simple mix of beans, chopped veggies in a tangy dressing, and I love that it only takes about 15 minutes to whip up. It's also naturally gluten-free and vegan, and the flavor gets better the longer that it sits and all melds together, so that means that you can definitely make it in advance. While many party dips aren't necessarily healthy, this one has an awesome dose of fiber and nutrients, so you can just keep digging into it. And trust me when I say that your guests will too.
All right, let me show you how to make it. To get started, you'll need one 15 ounce can of black beans and one 15 ounce can of black-eyed peas. I like a mix of beans in this recipe, and the black-eyed peas are classic to cowboy caviar, but you can also feel free to use what you have on hand, like pinto beans, navy beans, and others. Add the beans to a colander in the sink and then give them a good rinse before setting them aside for now. You'll also need two cups of sweet corn and you can use frozen, canned, or grilled from corn on the cob.
I have frozen corn today, so I'll measure that out, and then just let it thaw naturally while I prep the rest of the ingredients. For the fresh veggies, you'll start with four Roma tomatoes. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes so that all that extra liquid doesn't end up in the bowl, and you can use a small spoon to remove them or your finger, which is what I do. I always say that your hands are the best tools in the kitchen. Then dice them up. I like to keep the dice fairly small so that if I'm serving this up with tortilla chips, it's more easily scoopable. So think of a dice about the same size as pico de gallo.
Next, dice up one green bell pepper. You could use any color bell pepper in this recipe, but the green does compliment the red tomatoes and yellow corn nicely for a very vibrant bowl of cowboy caviar. And again, you'll do a fairly small dice. For the onion, you'll need 1/2 cup of diced red onion. And as most of you guys know, I always end up dice more than I need when it comes to onion and herbs so that I have a little extra pre-chopped to add to other recipes throughout the week. So for now, I'll measure out that 1/2 cup and store the remainder away. For a little punch of spice, you'll need one jalapeno pepper.
Remove the seeds and membrane, and you can do that by just shimming a small spoon through the inside of the jalapeno pepper. Then dice it up. Given how many veggies are in this recipe, one jalapeno pepper doesn't add much heat at all, so don't worry about it being too hot or too spicy. And for some fresh herbs, you'll need 1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro. The cilantro along with the jalapeno pepper and ground cumin in the dressing, which we'll get to in a second, really highlight the southwestern roots of this recipe. And the very last thing you'll need to dice is one large avocado.
Now, avocado may not be traditional to the original recipe from the 1940s that was served up in Texas, but I love to add it for a creamy touch. I also recommend that you try to grab a ripe, yet firm avocado so that diced pieces maintain their shape rather than turning into guacamole when you stir it all up. Okay, moving on to the dressing, it's really quite simple. And while some recipes out there might use vinegar for the tangy flavor, I prefer to use fresh lime juice. So add 1/3 cup of olive oil to a small bowl along with three tablespoons of fresh lime juice,
one teaspoon of honey, two garlic cloves that you can mince right into the bowl, one teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Then whisk that together. At this point, all that's left to do is add everything to a bowl and stir it up. So dump in the washed and drained beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, avocado, red onion, and cilantro along with the dressing. Now, as I was stirring this, I kept thinking to myself that it was missing something. The color didn't look quite right, and then it dawned on me that I had set the corn over to the side and forgotten to dump that in as well. But for a quick recovery,
I added that right in, and then re-stirred it all together. If you're serving this up for guests, you can transfer it to a prettier serving bowl, and if you'd like to get extra fancy, you can add a few leaves of cilantro on top. This cowboy caviar is so easy to make, which I always love when I've got people coming over and it's really versatile on how you'd like to serve it up. But today I'm just gonna dig in with some tortilla chips. And this is the perfect afternoon snack for me to dig into today. (tortilla crunches) Now, while I know I said at the beginning and I introed this as a great party dip, it's also perfect for a side dish or a salad on its own.
It's super delicious. You get that hint of lime, you get the cumin, so it has a very southwestern, almost Mexican influenced flavor in it, but it's very subtle. And then it's just so fresh with all of the veggies. And this is, of course, perfect for any long holiday weekend or holiday in general from Memorial Day, Labor Day, 4th of July. I've also served this up for Easter when it was a really warm Easter outside with a kind of picnic outdoor barbecue vibe, this went over very well. Now in terms of storage, as I mentioned at the beginning, this is great to make ahead of time so that all of that dressing can really absorb into the beans and all of the vegetables. So I'll often make it just a day in advance.
But if you do happen to have leftovers, I know there's avocado in here and I usually get worried about storing something too long in the fridge with avocado. But I have stored this for about three to four days after an event and kind of dug into it just as a snack for myself, and it is still perfectly fine. I hope you guys enjoyed today's recipe for cowboy caviar, and if you did, make sure to give it a thumbs up. And after you've whipped this up, go over onto the website, give it a five star review. I would so appreciate that and I will see you in the next video. (light music)
