RECIPE: Female-Friendly Cowboy Caviar
Dear Cysters, Mysters, and Friends,
With the upcoming 3-day weekend, it officially kicks off the season of trying to pack for our camping trips. This weekend, we are going to Devin’s (my fiance) family cottage in Michigan. I am super excited to hangout with his cousins and to take a break from work, but trying to figure out to what to eat on a long weekend away from home can be stressful.
I have always been a little abnormal with my way of eating. Even as a kid, we were raised to eat healthier than most people that I grew up with. For years I have heard comments from others about how “difficult my diet is” or have had to explain to people over and over again that yes - milk and cheese are dairy and therefore, I cannot consume them, even if they are in something like mashed potatoes.
This year, however, my food choices are way more extreme than anything I have tried before. While I am still struggling to stay consistently on track, my goal is to eat “female friendly foods” while avoiding anything that could negatively impact fertility. I am a huge snacker, which is usually where I end up eating something that does not fit my lifestyle, especially when surrounded by tempting foods at family gatherings.
So for this weekend, I decided to bring the most female-friendly snack I could think of: Cowboy Caviar. You might have heard of it before, but I am going to share my “recipe” with you. You might notice that I put recipe in quotation marks. That is because I absolutely suck at measuring ingredients and usually just measure with my heart! I did my best to estimate what I normally use, but the best part of this snack is that you can make it however you want.
You can watch the video below to get all the details of each ingredient and how it can benefit us!
I was so excited to make this video that I even recorded myself like I was hosting a cooking show. Then, while editing afterward, I realized I did not enjoy listening to myself at all, so I changed it up a bit! I hope you try this recipe sometime this weekend or over the summer and enjoy it as much as I do.
Have a happy and safe weekend everybody!
With love and support,
Madison Spears
Female-Friendly Cowboy Caviar
Makes about 6 servings
Ingredients:
1-2 Roma Tomatoes
1-2 Bell Peppers
1-2 cans beans of choice (I use Tri-Color from Walmart)
1 Avocado
1-2 cups Corn (frozen, canned or fresh)
Optional: Mango or Pineapple, Cilantro, Red Onion
Dressing Ingredients:
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh Lime Juice (I used 1 small lime)
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Black Pepper
½ - 1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Maple Syrup, Honey, or Sugar
Optional: Taco seasoning to taste
Directions:
Add the corn to a large bowl.
Finely chop the tomatoes, bell peppers, and any other optional ingredients such as fruit, red onion, or cilantro. Do NOT chop the avocado the yet!
Add all chopped ingredients to the bowl with the corn.
Drain and rinse your beans before adding them to the bowl.
In a separate jar or bowl, add all dressing ingredients together, including the optional taco seasoning if using. Whisk or shake until well combined.
Pour the dressing over the chopped ingredients. I usually start with half the dressing to make sure I don’t overdo it and continue adding more dressing until I am happy with the taste.
Using tongs or a spoon, mix everything except the avocado together.
Refrigerate Cowboy Caviar until ready to serve. If it can sit for a few hours or even overnight, the flavors will be much better!
Right before serving, chop your avocado and gently mix it into the bowl. If you mix too hard, you might end up with a guacamole texture instead of chunks of avocado.
Enjoy with chips, crackers, celery, cucumber slices, in tacos, in a rice bowl, or as a soup base if you skipped the fruit or avocado!
