Cowboy Caviar Synchronicity

As mentioned in earlier blogs my husband and I started on a Vegan diet three weeks ago to take charge of our health. It has been a lot easier than expected and we've already seen some early results. There's a binder of great recipes on the counter and additional recipes will continue to come via email ~ more bricks for our foundation of change. We pick 3-4 recipes for the week and shop for any ingredient we don't already have.

We aren't what you'd consider hard core Vegans, but strive to stay on point. There were some great quotes from Marilu Henner on Day 9 that will no doubt make it to the refrigerator door:

• Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels
• Set up your environment to win
• Life is all about progress, not perfection
• There's no such thing as cheating, every day is an experiment
• It's all about choices (I said that!)

I brought home one of my friend Trisha's cookbooks and I found the following recipe folded up inside. It had been emailed to her in 2008 by a friend who brought the dish to a potluck. I remember how good it was. Three years later the recipe found it's way to me. The fact that it fits into our experiment in health is not lost on either one of us.

Cowboy Caviar

Ingredients

1~16oz can shoe-peg corn, drained

1~16oz can black eyed peas

1 to 2 avocados, cubed

2/3 cup chopped cilantro

2/3 cup chopped green onions

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves of minced garlic
3/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin

Mix together black eyed peas, corn, avocados, cilantro, green onions and tomato. Mix dressing and then pour over veggies and toss to mix. Chill. Makes 6-8 servings. Serving ideas: As a dip with baked chips, over salad greens, stuff a potato, or dress up a brown rice dish. The possibilities are endless, eat in good health!