Cowboy Caviar (Small Batch)
Cowboy Caviar is a fresh and colorful mixture of beans and veggies tossed in a homemade garlicky lime dressing. Serve it as a dip with tortilla chips or as a side dish salad!
Servings: 4 to 6 (about ¾ to ½ cup each; recipe makes about 3 cups total)
Estimated Calories: 190
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil, or regular/light tasting olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, bottled is fine too
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
For the Salad:
- 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup corn, frozen (thawed), fresh, or canned (drained)
- ½ cup diced cucumbers, partially peeled and seeds removed if needed (I like to use English cucumber)
- ½ cup diced tomatoes, seeds removed (I like to use plum/Roma tomatoes)
- ½ cup diced bell pepper, any color (I use orange), seeds removed
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- 2 tablespoons finely diced jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs removed, optional
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, optional
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Make the Dressing:
- Place all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well-combined.
Make the Salad:
- Place all of the salad ingredients in a medium to large bowl along with the dressing; toss gently until well-combined and all of the veggies are evenly coated. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.Don't skip this step! The flavor gets better as it sits, and it will be pretty bland if you eat it immediately. I actually prefer to make mine the day before (and I highly recommend it)!
- Give the salad another quick toss, taste for seasoning and adjust if needed, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- You could go the traditional route and use black-eyed peas instead of black beans, or you could do a combination of half black beans and half black-eyed peas (or use any beans you like).
- Dice all of the veggies small so you get a little of each one in every bite. They should be about the size of the beans or smaller (I like to dice the onions and jalapenos even finer than everything else).
- If you want to make a bigger batch, just double or triple the recipe, etc. to make as much as you need.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days (keep in mind that the veggies will start to lose their freshness and crispness the longer they sit in the dressing).
- Estimated calories shown are based on 4 servings of about ¾ cup each and are for the salad only (tortilla chips not included). For 6 servings of about ½ cup each, the estimated calories would be 126 each.
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