Let’s pretend winter is over and indulge in some southwestern summertime classic flavors.
Cowboy – or Texas – Caviar was invented by famed New Yorker turned Texan Helen Corbitt. Corbitt was celebrated for her culinary creativity, which led to unique recipes and helped her become the first woman to ever earn the Golden Plate Award, one of the highest honors in the food world.
As the story goes, Corbitt had to create a meal to impress the Houston Country Club on short notice. She opted for black-eyed peas, which are somewhat of a Texas staple and a New Year’s Day tradition in much of the South. Apparently, eating black-eyed peas brings good luck for the coming year. Corbitt’s dish was so well received it received its new name – Texas Caviar.
So in homage to Corbitt and to help bring in a little luck for 2018, here’s a simple yet flavor-filled take on this Tex-Mex classic.
Time You’ll Need:
- ~25 minutes prepping
- ~1 hour marinate
- Yields: 8-10 servings
What You’ll Need:
- 1 can of corn (rinsed and drained)
- 2 cans of black-eyed peas (rinsed and drained)
- 3 tbsp Hot sauce of choice (I chose Cholula’s Chili Garlic)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup of red wine vinegar
- 4 oz can of diced jalapeno (rinsed and drained)
- 1 avocado, diced
- 2 bell peppers, seeded and diced
- ½ cup of chopped green onions
- 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
- Taco seasoning of choice (You’ll only use half the bag of seasoning, so if you don’t want it to go to waste, I’d recommend using the rest on homemade tortilla chips, which go great with the caviar!)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp lime juice
What You’ll Do:
- Prep all your fresh and canned veggies.
- In a large bowl, add all ingredients. Mix well.
- Cover the bowl and let sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour to let flavors marinate. Serve as a nice side dish or with tortilla chips.