Texas Caviar

Hotter than...

...the weather, not the salad

Since summertime is beating down on us, I've been doing a lot of cooking outdoors - crazy, I know.

Here's a recipe for a refreshing cool salad that goes great with grilled foods. It's another version of Country Caviar and ingredients change with every region. This one is from Texas.

Texas Caviar

2 -15 oz. cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 serrano chile, stem and seeds removed, then finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine everything up in a bowl; season with the salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. 

Serve cold. 

Note: Alabama does a version without the serrano and with varying sweet peppers, garden fresh plum tomatoes and a tad of sugar.
And from our surrounding states:
Mississippi enjoys a version using a good dose of Italian dressing, not sure why...
Tennessee folks like it hot with a can of Rotel and Mexi-corn.
Georgia likes to add Rotel and Italian dressing, not sure why...
And my Floridian friends, well, they add ketchup, red wine vinegar and Thai fish sauce.