POOR MAN'S CAVAIR

Saturdays in the fall are easily my favorite day of the week.  They usually involve some sort of outdoor excursion (currently biking) and lots of football watching among friends.  In preparation for Saturday, I usually check the local grocery stores flyers to see what is on sale and plan my tailgating food around that.  It makes things economical and forces me to not bring the same appetizer to each gathering.

This week, cilantro, salad dressing and canned tomatoes were on sale I immediatley thought something Mexican.  I have been to cookout's before where I have LOVED "poor man's caviar" and decided to make a Mexican version of this dish.

Poor Man's CaviarMAKES 8 CUPS
This recipe can be served as a salad or a side dish.
2 15-ounce cans of black-eyed peas or soak dried beans
8 scallions, trimmed and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced or use frozen, chopped bell pepper
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 large tomato, cored and diced or canned tomatoes
1⁄4 cup chopped cilantro
1 16-ounce bottle of spicy Italian salad dressing
Directions
1. Drain peas well, discarding the liquid, and transfer peas to a large bowl. Add scallions, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, and salad dressing and toss to combine.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight, to allow the flavors to come together. Serve cold or at room temperature.
credit: www.saveur.com

**In order to streamline the costs, I used the aforementioned canned tomatos (tomatoes with japelneo's), dried black eyed-peas that I had soaked over night and green peppers that were frozen

Serve in a fun colored bowl with pita chips or tortilla chips -- Ole'!

This dip tasted fresh and amazing and went quickly.  Another wonderful attribute of this dip was that you can make it the night before so there can be more playing outside/football watching, less time spent in the kitchen.

college football watching friends