Good Chuck

Well, last time on Name This Food! I asked y'all what this here grub was called:

It is, in fact, a lovely dish known as

Cowboy Caviar

Sometimes known as Texas Caviar. It's basically a black bean and corn salsa, with black-eyed peas, lots of red onion and chunky peppers and cilantro. I made some the other day, and as I cannot get hold of black-eyed peas for love nor money in this country, used a combination of black and pinto beans, and some pearl barley in there for good measure. It was great. The really great thing about it is that the longer it sits in the fridge, the more the flavors marry and intensify, so if you still have some left the next day, it will have improved. I say 'if' because it is hard to stop eating this stuff with every meal! It's good for you! There are literally hundreds of recipes for it out there, all with different permutations and ingredients (like zucchini and avocado etc.) but here's a basic one:

Ingredients:

2 ( 15-oz.) cans black-eyed peas and/or black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15-oz.) can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 serrano or jalapeno chile, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped

1 bell pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped

1 chopped red onion

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss well.

2) Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve as a side dish, or as a dip with chips, or even straight out of the bowl with a fork! Mmmm. I also threw some diced cucumber in there.

Alright, so what's next?

Name This Food!