As summer quickly approaches, the idea of eating a warm and hearty soup seems to steer a lot of people away from utilizing beans in their everyday diet. Because they are so easy to add to any soup or stew, it is easy to forget that beans can adapt just as well to chilled dishes. This recipe features the “earthy” flavor of Blackeye Peas with fresh vegetables, and is tossed in a delicious tangy and spicy dressing.

The name “Cowboy Caviar” sums this dish up quite well; it is a refined take on a fairly unrefined product (beans). A web search will produce quite a few versions of the recipe (one of my favorites), but the problem I have found with many of these is the use of canned beans (go figure). The issue is that canned bean products are almost always too mushy and soft. The texture of the fresh vegetables in this case is completely ruined if you use a bean that can’t hold up, especially considering that this dish is always “better the next day”. Use dry beans and not only will the final result be much better, but you can make twice as much for 1/2 the cost…

What you need:

1- Package Hurst’s® Brand Blackeye Peas

1- Cup Diced Tomato. (substitute canned if you need to)

1- Cup Sweet Corn (cut from 2 ears)

1- Cup Green Pepper, diced.

1- Cup Diced Red Onion

1- Jalapeno, stemmed and seeded.

3-4 Cloves Garlic, peeled

4-5 Stalks Green Onion

1/4-1/2 Cup Cilantro

Juice from 1 Lime

1/4- Cup Olive Oil

1/4- Cup Red Wine Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

1. Place Black-eye’s in a colander or sieve and rinse thoroughly. Sort through the beans, check for any debris or dirt and discard. Place rinsed beans in a large soup pot and cover with at least 2″ of water. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (covered) for about 2 hrs. Check the tenderness periodically toward the end of the cooking time. When they have cooked through but are still hold their shape, remove from the heat and drain off excess water. Pour the beans into a large mixing bowl to cool off.

2. While the beans are cooking, prepare the vegetables. Cut the fresh corn off the cob and dice the tomato, onion, and green pepper into 1/4″ pieces.

3. In a food processor or blender, add garlic, green onion, cilantro, jalapeno, oil and vinegar. Puree mixture for 1-2 minutes.

4. Place chopped vegetables into container with beans. Pour dressing over the top and stir entire mixture to combine. Place in fridgerator for at least 1 hour (the longer the better) before serving to allow time for the flavors to meld.

5. Serve cold with tortilla chips for dipping.

This also makes an excellent side dish for any meal, and is great in a quesadilla or taco too!

One of my all-time favorite “I could eat this everyday” meals is black beans and rice. Hugely popular throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, it is one of those simple-to-make dishes that still has incredible flavor. Throw in some slow cooked pork, cilantro-lime sour cream, and your favorite bottle of hot sauce, and this recipe can make even Hoosier country feel like an island paradi… well, let’s not get carried away.

From Wikipedia:

While simple, the dish is very nutritious. Rice is rich in starch, an excellent source of energy. Rice also has iron, vitamin B and protein. Beans are also protein-rich, and contain a good amount of iron and other necessary minerals, and both offer an important and basic kind of protein. Rice and beans together create a complete protein not available in either ingredient alone.

…and if it’s on Wikipedia, it HAS to be true.

In all reality, beans and rice are the quintessential “recession proof” foods. It’s not only cheap to make (less than $1.00 per serving for this recipe) but also incredibly good for you. So grab a cold Kalik, throw a big pot on the stove, and enjoy this island favorite.

What you need:

1-Package Hurst’s® HamBeens® Spanish-American Black Bean Soup

1- Cup diced yellow onion

1- Cup diced carrot

1- Cup diced celery

1- Cup diced green pepper

1lbs. Pork chop

3-4 Cloves crushed garlic

1-Tablespoon fresh cilantro

1-2 Bay Leaves

(Optional)

1/2 Cup sour cream

3-Teaspoon lime juice

Hot sauce

1. Place the dry beans in a colander or sieve and rinse with cold water. Check for any unwanted debris and discard. If time permits, place the beans in a large bowl and cover with 1″ water. Let soak for at least a few hours. (If you don’t have time for soaking, just increase the cooking time.)

Prepare the fresh vegetables. Dice each into 1/4″ size pieces, then place in a large soup pot with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot.

3. Over Med-High heat, saute the vegetables until the onions become translucent and the others become slightly tender. Add the crushed garlic cloves in the last few minutes of cooking. Once the vegetables are ready add 7 cups of H20, black beans, pork chop, and bay leaf. Bring mixture to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat and simmer (covered) for about 3 hours. Stir occasionally.

4. After a couple hours, the pork should be fork tender. Remove the pieces from the pot and once cool enough to touch, chop/pull into bite sized pieces. Once finished, add back to the pot for the remainder of the cooking time.

5. After 3 hours, the black beans should be completely tender (if not continue to cook, check every 15 minutes or so until done). Remove the lid and stir in Hurst’s Black Bean Seasoning package.

6. Add all but a small pinch of the fresh cilantro to the pot and stir to combine. Allow the beans to simmer uncovered while you prepare the rice and cilantro-lime sour cream* (recipe below). This should help reduce some of the liquid and thicken the mixture.

7. Serve black beans over a long grain rice with a dollop of the sour cream and your favorite hot sauce (or jalapenos!).

Enjoy!

*Cilantro-Lime Sour Cream:

Just as it sounds… Mix remaining cilantro and lime juice into some store-bought sour cream. Incredibly easy and gives a delicious citrus flavor that cuts through the richness of the black beans.