The name of this dish scared me away from it for many years but I am officially hooked on Cowboy Caviar (don’t worry there are no fish involved in this recipe)! The dish is easy to make, but you should prepare it 1 day in advance if you plan to bring it to a party or munch on it all day at a tailgate because the flavor of the dip is absorbed over night. It keeps well in the fridge for over a week and is a protein filled snack to have around the house and enjoy with chips.
Here are the ingredients you will need:
- ½ cup of Oil (Olive oil, vegetable or canola oil will work)
- 1 ½ cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp of Black Pepper
- 2 cups of Sugar
- 1 Tbsp of water
- 1 can of Black Beans
- 1 can of Garbanzo Beans (ChickPeas)
- 1 can of Shoepeg Corn
- 1 can of Blackeyed Peas
- 1 small jar of diced Pimiento Peppers
- ½ Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Green Bell Pepper
- ½ Large Red Onion or 1 Small Red Onion
Step 1:
Make your dressing/base. To do this you will need to combine the oil, vinegar, black pepper, sugar and water in a large saucepan. Bring the sauce to a boil. When you first turn on the burner, you should stir the ingredients until the sugar has mostly dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved you can decrease your stirring to every minute or two and bring the sauce to a boil. It should boil for a minute and a half and then you remove the pan from the heat to cool. In Iowa, we place the pan on our snowy deck to speed up the cooling process, haha!
Step 2:
Chop your veggies. Finely chop the onion and bell peppers (red and green).
Step 3:
Combine beans and veggies in a large bowl. You should drain and rinse all of the canned beans and peas. Then add these items to a large bowl with your diced veggies. The bowl will now include the black beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), shoepeg corn, blackeyed peas, pimento peppers, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and red onion. Mix together with a large spoon.
Step 4:
Once your dressing/base has cooled, pour it over your mixture of beans and veggies. The dressing should fill just above ingredients, this will add the flavor to them overnight in the fridge. It is important to note that the dip should be drained before being served. When I store this in my fridge for a week, I just scoop out my serving with a spoon that has holes in it so that I do not collect the excess dressing. Storing the dip in the fridge overnight ensures it will taste top notch for your party or gathering! Serve with tortilla chips or Fritos.
If you don’t drain your dip before serving you are going to think “What the hell is this recipe?!” so don’t forget this step. I promise it is delicious! Enjoy this dip throughout the week on your own or use Cowboy Caviar as your secret recipe that gets you invited to every party because of your awesome appetizer!
Hey, Soul Sisters 