Texas Caviar

When John was home this summer he loved this black-eyed pea salad.  I made it for Megan and Chris too.  Chris really wanted the recipe.  I guess those five recipes I taught Megan don't really even get her one week worth of dinners.

Texas Caviar 

Two 15 ounce cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
2 medium tomatoes or 4 romas, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
¼ c. diced red onion
3 green onions, chopped, white and green parts
1 c. chopped bell pepper, any color or a combination
¼ c. chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 C diced celery
1 C canned or frozen corn (opt)

Dressing:

1/2 C cider vinegar
1/2 C Oil
1 t. salt
1 T sugar
½ t. freshly ground black pepper
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. ground cumin

Combine all of the vegetables in a large bowl.

Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over salad. Mix well to combine. Cover, refrigerate, and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours. Before serving, taste and add extra vinegar, salt or pepper if necessary.

You can eat this plain, like a salad or with tortilla chips as a dip.

Bruschetta

1 1/2 cups chopped Roma plum tomatoes.. this is about 6 to 8 tomatoes
2 tablespoons diced red onion
1 large clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil... 4 to 6 small leaves
2 tablespoons olive-oil
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
dash ground black pepper

1/2 loaf French baguette
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Combine the tomatoes, red onion, garlic and basil in a medium bowl.
Add 1/2 tablespoon oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and mix well.
Cover the bowl and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

When ready to serve, preheat the broiler and slice the baguette in 1 inch slices.
Combine the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil and the garlic salt. Brush both sides with the oil mixture. Brown under the broiler 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until brown.

I put the toast on a platter with the brushetta next to it so that each guest could make their own and the toast would not get soggy.

I served this to Joe's homecoming group. It was a huge hit!