Cowboy Caviar

It's week #26 of my 2018 challenge to try one new whole-food plant-based (WFPB) recipe each week. My mom introduced me to this recipe. A friend of hers makes it a lot and says it's always a hit. The recipe comes from culinaryhill.com.  

The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup sugar. I left out the olive oil and used a little agave syrup instead of sugar. It's also delicious without a sweetener. 

What I like about this recipe (besides the fact that it's healthy):

• Fresh flavors
• A fun way to consume fresh veggies and legumes
• Easy to make
• My kids liked it.
• Keeps well in the fridge

What I ended up using/doing:

• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pound Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• Half of a 12-oz "steamer" bag of frozen corn, cooked and cooled. (I prefer frozen corn, but you could also use canned.)
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced thin (a finely diced red onion also works great)
• 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• Chopped fresh cilantro to taste 
• Agave syrup to taste, optional. (Start with 1 Tbsp and go from there.) I added this at the end. 

1. Combine the first three ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a spoon. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix with a spoon.
3. Enjoy!  We ate it with these fresh baked corn tortilla chips that I shared in my last post. 

This post was originally published on June 30, 2018.