Texas Caviar Bean Dip

Why is it called Texas Caviar Bean Dip?  I have no idea.  That’s just what I was told when the recipe was given to me over a decade ago.  Maybe it’s because the combination of black beans and black-eye peas make it look like the little eyes of real caviar.  Perhaps it’s because it has such big flavor.  What I do know is that this sweet and spicy bean dip is a crowd pleaser.  We take this to parties often and I always get compliments and requests for the recipe.  So, here it is.

Texas Caviar Bean Dip

One of the great things, it that Texas Caviar Bean Dip is really easy to make.  And because it’s mostly canned ingredients, you can keep them in the pantry to have when you need a dish to pass, but you’re at a loss.  Onions and celery are the only fresh ingredient.

Start by draining and rinsing a can of black beans, black-eyed peas, shoepeg corn, jarred pimentos and jarred jalapenos.  I actually throw all the canned/jarred ingredients into my colander, rinse them and then let them drip while I do the other steps.  Use your kitchen scissors (Mine are Kitchen Aid and I love them.  We’ve had them for 9 years and they are still super sharp!) to snip the pimentos and jalapenos into smaller pieces.

Dice up some onions and celery.  On the stove combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar and sugar and heat it to melt the sugar.  I think I usually do let it come to a boil.

Let it marinate 6-8 hours or overnight.

Drain!

Drain your Texas Caviar Bean Dip.  This is a really important step.  I once thought if overnight makes it take good, if I let it marinate longer, it will taste better.  The problem with this hypothesis is the olive oil.

In the refrigerator, olive oil will congeal.  So, if you let it marinate overnight, the flavors have time to mix and blend, but the oil doesn’t have time to congeal.  I actually drain the dip in my colander, just like I do with the beans in the initial drain and rinse step. Because even the smallest amount of oil will eventually congeal if you have any left at the end of the party (which is doubtful!).  If your oil does congeal, just let it come back to room temperature.

Texas Caviar will keep for several days and is great added to a taco or taco salad, but is best served as a dip with a scoop style corn chip.

So, give Texas Caviar Bean Dip a try and let us know in the comments below how you use it!  This would also be great served on top of Version Taco Burgers as a knife and fork burger in place of putting it on a bun.  Enjoy!

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