One of the snacks that my friend Jenny brought to our Avenue of the Giants camping trip, was cowboy caviar, a bean and avocado based salad that is great for chip-dipping. I thought it was the perfect food for camping! It keeps well in the cooler, it’s hearty and filling and is great as a snack between meals when you are hungry after hiking or swimming. Because Jenny made this dish a day in advance, the avocado browned a bit, but it was still very tasty. I wound up eating most of the large container she brought along! I asked her to share her recipe…
Cowboy Caviar Recipe
Healthy, hearty, and packed with protein. It’s one of my favorite easy camping recipes!
Ingredients
- DRESSING:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and pepper to taste (may be spiced with Tabasco)
- SOLID STUFF:
- 1 can black-eyed peas, drained (or black white, or pinto beans)
- 1 can corn
- 1 cup green onions, chopped
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 cup tomatoes seeded and chopped (or unseeded Roma tomatoes are fine)
- 2 avocados, diced (more or less to taste)
Instructions
- This dish couldn’t be more easy! Just combine ingredients for the dressing then mix in solid stuff. Serve with tortilla chips.
- If you are making it a day ahead and can avoid it, don’t add the tomatoes and avocados until just before you serve it. I suspect adding a squeeze of lemon to the finished dish will keep the avocados from browning, but I haven’t tried that yet.
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I made this today for my friends barbecue. Absolutely delicious and super easy. I think everyone will love this healthy, fresh dish. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad to hear you liked it, Blaire! We’re going on our first camping trip of the year this weekend and we’ll be making it again. It’s such an easy and hearty snack to have on hand!
I put some on my burger. Delicious!!
Yum, great idea! Glad you liked it, Jenn!
I had high hopes for this dish. Sadly, it turned out
a bit oily. It may have been the olive oil I used (evoo) but it was way to saturated. If I could call a do-over, I would have have cut the oil down to much less than what was called for. I’d use less than 1/4 cup.
Shoot, sorry it wasn’t quite for you. Thanks for sharing this modification! Less oil makes it healthier, too 🙂
Where, exactly, are these troublesome avocados? Still looks good, just a bit confused by your post and the picture.
Hi Ann! We made the dish a day or two before, so the avocados turned brown by the time we got to the campsite (after being hauled in the car in the cooler for so long). I didn’t take a photo of what the dish looked like then, but it was still tasty! Sorry for the confusion!
Ok, they are not included on your ingredient list either. Looks good though! Can’t wait to try it this weekend.
Ann–oh my gosh! This post has been shared thousands of times, and you are the first person who noticed that I left avocados off the list! Thank you! I’ll add it right now. Sadly, I can’t remember the number I used? One or two? or three? Let me know what you do, and what you think 🙂
How many doest his feed? Our family coming trip has 20 people, should I double? Thanks
Hi Kristen, we have 6 adults and it’s enough for a hearty snack for all of us, but I’d double this for a big group. Have a great trip!