Cowboy Caviar

I love these colors!
And do you know what's better than looking at them?
Eating them!
And the best way to eat them?
Well, yeah, you could slice them up and eat them with some hummus or fry them up with some Italian sausage.
But I would rather dice them up and make a big bowl of cowboy caviar!

So exactly what is cowboy caviar?
It's a salsa full of beans and veggies.
I like it best with a big bag of Tostitos Scoops!
But you can also serve it as a vegetable side dish.
Use it as a topping for grilled fish, chicken, meat or tofu.
Mix it with quinoa for a warm or cold quinoa salad.
Toss it in a green salad.
Put it on a fish taco.
Use it as a relish on a hot dog, burger or a bratwurst.
Top a baked potato or pasta.
Get the idea?  It's pretty versatile stuff! 

 It's really easy to make and you don't really need to measure anything.  I chopped up half of a red, yellow, orange and green bell pepper. It may or may not have been close to the measurements in the recipe.
But it looked pretty good and I figure I'm making salsa not rocket science!

Remember to taste your jalapeno pepper before you add it!  Sometimes they are very mild and other times they make your eyeballs tingle.  This one made my lips burn but my eyeballs felt fine.  I added 1/4 of it or about 2 teaspoons for those of you who like to make rocket science! 

Did you know that soaking sliced onions in ice water helps to mellow them?
So if your onions are really strong, slice them. soak for 15 minutes in ice water and drain.

Cowboy Caviar

• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste, I use 1/2 tsp.)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can shoe peg corn, drained and rinsed
• the equivalent of 2 large bell peppers, assorted colors, diced
• 2-3 large stalks of celery, diced
• 1 small red onion, minced
• Jalapeno pepper to taste, minced
• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

Combine the sugar, vinegar, oil and salt in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Cook for a minute, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool.

Combine the beans, corn, veggies and Cajun seasoning in a large bowl.  Add the cooled marinade and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.  (If you think of it, give it a stir every once in a while.)  Drain well.

Serve with tortilla chips or scoops.  Serve as a vegetable side dish.  Use as a topping on pasta or a baked potato or grille fish, chicken, meat or tofu.   Mix it with quinoa or rice and serve warm or cold.  Toss it in a green salad.  Put it on a fish taco.  Use as a relish on a hot dog, burger, sausage or brat.

Serves:  Not as many people as you think it should!  You will be surprised at how fast it disappears!  (I use a 10 cup bowl.)