Texas Caviar? Yes, please.

Texas Caviar. Cowboy Caviar. I don't know - it can be both.

I was first introduced to this stuff by my mom who got the recipe from a friend. How one can go through life without making this at least a dozen times is beyond me. It's like hearing that someone has never seen a sunset, or held a puppy, or felt true love!! You haven't lived until you make this and eat it. Plus, it's healthier than bean dip.


I had a recipe. A friend of mine also gave me a recipe. I now have neither. I think the one I originally had was lost a while ago, and the one my friend gave me is actually in my e-mail at work. So, I made this based on what I remembered and what sounded good, and also, I was lazy and didn't want to chop a bunch of stuff. Here it is.

Texas Caviar (or Cowboy Caviar, or Sweet Bean Salsa....)

You'll need one can each of:

Pinto beans
Black beans
White hominy
Golden hominy



and...

1 small jar of pimientos
1 red bellpepper, diced
1 yellow bellpepper, diced
1 orange bellpepper, diced
2 green onions, diced



and...

1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of sugar
pepper to taste

**I'm going to educate you. Apparently some people don't know what hominy is. Hominy is corn. Corn that has been processed to remove the hull and the germ. It looks fluffy. No, it's not mushy. It's just really neat, and I like it. If you don't want to use hominy, you can use regular corn. But try the hominy. You can find it in the aisle at the store where you'd find corn. It's right next to the corn. It stands out like a super model standing next to the third shift cashier at Wal-mart. Just try the hominy.**

First, put the olive oil and apple cider vinegar into a saucepan.

How pretty is that?

Add the sugar and pepper.


Stir over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.



Turn the burner off and remove from heat. Set aside and let cool for however long it takes you to put the other stuff together.

Drain and rinse the beans and hominy. I used a strainer. I don't know how else you'd do it. Rinse them until all of those bubbles go away. Put the beans and hominy in a giant bowl. Put the pimientos in there too. Chop the bellpeppers if you haven't already. Chop the onion too. Make sure everything is the same size, about the size of a piece of hominy, or slightly smaller. Look at the hominy if you are confused. Put those in the bowl with the beans and everything else.




Pour your apple cider vinegar/olive oil mixture over the pretty stuff in the bowl. Mix it together. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Seriously, do this. It tastes so much better the next day.

The next day (or 30 minutes after, if you're impatient and don't want to listen to me), pour everything into a strainer and discard the liquid. Put your pretty bean mixture into a container with a good lid.

Eat this with chips. I like those Frito scoops. Or eat it by itself. It's fricken good.