Loaded Colorado Caviar

Loaded Colorado Caviar is a deluxe version of the classic Cowboy Caviar, with black beans, corn, bell pepper, garlic, chiles …. and bacon. Satisfying and great as a side or even a meal

Waay back in 2007, I published Colorado Caviar – a yummy variation on Cowboy Caviar. And very easy to make! On Thursday night, I went to my Denver Bloggers Club catered by Mad Greens. Guess what they served? (Among other scrumptious dishes) Cowboy Caviar – a new dish on their menu. I’ve had lots of Cowboy Caviar before, but this was the first one I had with bacon in it. What a fabulous addition! Makes it really irresistible. So I had to make my own version. I went one step further by adding avocado. You could eat this dish as a full meal. Between the bacon and avocado, which is more important? The bacon by far. This dish has so much flavor the avocado has more impact on the texture than the flavor, but the bacon is a real standout.

Looking for a great addition to your Super Bowl game day menu? This one is a guaranteed hit, and it’s even healthy. Looking for a scrumptious spread with no effort? Get a large batch of Cowboy Caviar from #MadGreens (madgreens.com – note: $25 off order of $124+ through Feb w/ code HAPPY2019). A big advantage of #DenverBloggersClub is that each meeting is catered by a different restaurant, so I get to try all kinds of interesting dishes.

Loaded Colorado Caviar

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

2 mins

Total time

17 mins

 

Author: Anita

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can black beans, drained
• 1 cup kalamata olives, finely diced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• ½ cup diced red bell pepper
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp medium hot diced green chiles
• (or add diced jalapeno to taste)
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• 4-6 strips bacon (depending on thickness), fried crisp and crumbled
• optional: 1 medium avocado, peeled and chopped

Instructions

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Sautee garlic in oil over medium heat until lightly
3. browned, about 2 minutes.
4. Turn off heat and stir in green chiles and then balsamic
5. vinegar. (Vinegar will splatter if added directly to hot mixture).
6. Mix well and add salt.
7. Pour the garlic-green chile mixture over the beans, olives, and
8. corn in the bowl and mix thoroughly.
9. Add the cilantro and stir.
10. Stir in bacon bits and (if desired, the chopped avocado)
11. Garnish with fresh cilantro
12. Serve with tortilla chips.
13. Note: You may want to add more cilantro, green chiles, or
14. jalapeno to taste.

3.5.3208