Cowboy Caviar

I've been a MOPS Mentor Mom for almost 10 years now. Last week I went with some of the gals on an outing. For lunch, one of the moms brought Cowboy Caviar. I knew once I saw the ingredients, helping with the chopping, and then tasting ... yummmm ... that this would be something I would make for our family's 4th of July get-together. But of course, typical me, I altered her recipe some. I just now Googled it to see the variances. So what did I do?

COWBOY CAVIAR

1 can black beans

1 can black-eyed peas

1 can corn

(I grilled, in the husks, 3 ears of corn till the husks blackened, then cut off the grilled flavored corn)

2-3 chopped tomatoes

2-3 chopped avacados (we love avacados)

several green onions, including the greens, chopped (I love green onion tops!)

a whole bunch of cilantro chopped

probably about 1/2+ cup of salsa

1-2 Tb balsamic vinegar

2 Tb red wine vinegar



I had also made a buttermilk half sour cream and mayo dip. So I'd brought tortilla chips and potato chips and lots of veggies for the dips.



Looking at some of Google's recipes and back at the original given to me, I didn't use a hot sauce, but the salsa instead. I'd add lots of garlic next time and some lime juice. I was supposed to add some oil too, but forgot. For proportions, around 2/3C grn onions as well as the cilantro is given in one and 2 Tb vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp oil. Another used canned diced tomato and added chopped bell pepper. Monte wants me to add jalepenos next time and one recipe adds 1/2C chopped pickled jalepenos (which I often use when I don't have fresh). Another adds Italian salad dressing for the vinegar and oil, and frozen corn. And I used more avacado than suggested. So you see, there's lots of possibilities with this recipe.



Travis's first bite comment was "Complex". Everyone liked it. So here's the recipe everyone who asked for it!