Friday, January 18, 2013

Texas Caviar


Sometimes a big plate of vegetables can be a little overwhelming. Even for me. There's a lot of chewing involved when trying to gnaw your way through a whole pile of veggies. But when you do something like this,  you can breeze through a massive bowl in no time!

The first time I made Texas caviar, I was in college and had just bought Joy of Cooking. I was home in Michigan on break at my sister's new house and I had brought my new cookbook! (Nerd alert) We ended up stirring it up in an old ice cream pail and inhaling almost the whole batch in the same afternoon. Isn't there something so exciting about trying a new food for the first time? Kind of like the first time I tried raw fish (thought it was going to be better, or at least I'd feel more sophisticated) or tiramisu. Now that, I still dream about. Sometimes the first time you have a food is the most memorable. Isn't it funny how that works?

Back to the caviar... Another side-bar: Still haven't had actual caviar yet. Ok. Now back to this caviar. If you have a smaller family or just don't want to eat that many chips, I piled some on my eggs this morning and it added a lot of fresh flavor and vegetables to my normally-plain-Jane-eggs.

As I get more into blogging, I'm realizing how many great blogs are out there. Take a look at my Pinterest boards if you don't believe me! I see so many great recipes that I want to try, but don't necessarily want to take the time required to rework it to "make it my own", or write up a special post, or take the pictures. Sometimes, I just want to make something and share it with you! So every week I'll be sharing a recipe from another blogger that I've made and loved. If you want to try it out for yourself, I'll have a link so you can see the recipe. It will be a short blurb on the bottom of one of my posts, so keep your eyes open for that!




Texas Caviar
Makes about 6 cups
Adapted from Joy of Cooking

3 1/2 cups black eyed peas (canned or cooked)
2 jalapenos, diced with ribs and seeds removed
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
Small handful cilantro, chopped
2  15-ounce cans corn, drained & rinsed (or 2 cups fresh, if available)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus additional to taste
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Tortilla chips, for serving
In a large bowl, stir together the peas, jalapenos, tomato, bell pepper, garlic, onion, cilantro, corn, and Worcestershire sauce.

In a small bowl, whisk together the 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and lemon juice. While constantly whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Add to the large bowl. Give another toss. Add additional salt if needed.

Can be served immediately, but this is best if you let it sit at least a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Serve with tortilla chips.


Pinit

Another recipe I loved this week: I finally got around to doing chili for the first time this winter, and I picked a great recipe to kick it off! I knew I'd love this recipe for 3 reasons: it only called for 1 pound of beef, it's a crock pot recipe, and it's topped with an avocado salsa. Check out the Taste and Tell blog for the Easy Slow Cooker Chili with Avocado Salsa recipe.

10 comments:

  1. One of the kids just asked if I would make this! I will have to try this recipie it looks fab on a cold snowey night!

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    1. Now those are some smart kids:)

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  • I have long ago stopped eating USA produced CORN because of claims ALL are now GMO that is genetically modified..I would suggest you and your readers do the same specially if pregnant...

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    1. I agree that it's something to be aware of. Thank you for your comment!

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  • sally @ sallys baking addictionJan 20, 2013, 3:57:00 PM

    now this looks like my kind of caviar!!! All of my favorite "dip" ingredients are present - corn, beans, jalapeño, cilantro, garlic... this has it all!! it must be so flavorful. I think I'd want to eat this with a spoon :) Love the idea of putting it on eggs!

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  • I love this and could seriously go to town on it!! And I'm so glad you tried hte chili and liked it. That avocado salsa is one of my favorites!

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  • We just made this. Usually we stick to the usual black beans & avocados, so this was fun to mix it up a bit. Addicting! -Katie

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    1. I know, so addicting. Plus, it feels like you can just keep eating and eating...Can't decide if that's a pro or a con. Glad you tried it!

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