Cowboy Caviar Bean Salad (Printable)
Colorful bean and vegetable salad with zesty lime cumin dressing, ready in 20 minutes.
# What You Need:
→ Beans and Pulses
01 - 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
02 - 1 can (15 oz) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
→ Vegetables
03 - 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned, or thawed frozen)
04 - 1 red bell pepper, diced
05 - 1 green bell pepper, diced
06 - 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
07 - 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
08 - 1/2 red onion, finely diced
09 - 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
→ Dressing
10 - 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
11 - 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
12 - 1 clove garlic, minced
13 - 1 tsp ground cumin
14 - 1/2 tsp chili powder
15 - 1/2 tsp salt
16 - 1/4 tsp black pepper
17 - Juice of 1 lime
# Steps:
01 - In a large mixing bowl, combine the drained black beans, black-eyed peas, corn kernels, diced red and green bell peppers, jalapeño, quartered cherry tomatoes, red onion, and chopped cilantro.
02 - In a separate small bowl, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic, ground cumin, chili powder, salt, black pepper, and fresh lime juice until well blended.
03 - Pour the prepared dressing over the bean and vegetable mixture. Toss gently to combine, ensuring all ingredients are evenly coated.
04 - Taste the mixture and adjust the salt, pepper, or lime juice as needed to suit your preference.
05 - Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together.
06 - Serve chilled with tortilla chips as a dip, or spoon over greens as a salad. Also excellent as a taco filling.
# Expert Hints:
01 -
- It requires zero cooking, which means your kitchen stays cool and you get to feel brilliantly productive with almost no effort.
- The colors alone make people stop and stare, and the flavor somehow gets even better after sitting in the fridge overnight.
02 -
- If you skip the resting time the dressing will taste separate and sharp, so try to plan ahead even just a little.
- Dicing the vegetables to roughly the same size as the beans makes every scoop perfectly balanced instead of chaotic.
03 -
- Pat the drained beans dry with a paper towel before adding them so your dressing does not get watered down by can liquid.
- A pinch of sugar in the dressing rounds out the acidity and makes the whole thing taste like you spent hours perfecting it.