Avocado Corn Salsa (Cowboy Caviar)

Call it Cowboy Caviar, Avocado Corn Salsa, Southwest Chopped Salsa, call it whatever you want-- just know you are going to call it delicious! This chopped Avocado Corn Salsa is the perfect summer salsa to enjoy at home or to bring for events. It is healthy, inexpensive, and a total crowd-pleaser. All of the fresh ingredients like corn, avocado, peppers, and lime, come together for a crunchy bite. In fact, this stuff is so good it can be eaten as a salad or as a salsa.

Ingredients

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup corn
1 jalapeno finely diced
2 green onions, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
½ red onion, diced
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed
2 avocados cubed
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 lime, juiced

Variations

Here are some possible extra ingredients to add.

• cilantro
• yellow onion
• garlic
• pinto beans
• canned green chilis
• diced radishes
• olive oil

How to make Corn Avocado Salsa

• In a large mixing bowl, add tomatoes, corn, jalapeno, green onions, red bell pepper, and black beans. Stir to combine.
• Add in salt, cumin and lime juice, and stir to coat vegetables.
• Add diced avocado immediately before serving and stir.
• Place in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Top Tips

• Make sure that the black beans are very well rinsed and drained. If not, your salsa will be mushy and cloudy.
• Chopping up everything in small, fairly consistently sized pieces is key. The only thing you will likely want smaller than the rest is the jalapeno.
• Avocado is the first thing to lose its color and consistency. Save this ingredient until the very end, and add just before serving.

What type of corn should you use?

In most cases, I use frozen corn or canned corn. The recipe calls for only 1 cup of corn, which is less than your typical 15 oz. can. However, you can either amp up the corn content of this delicious salsa by adding the whole can, or you can save the rest for another recipe.

Frozen corn is obviously great, because you can measure out the exact amount you want and keep the rest in the freezer.

I'm a midwestern girl and we are known for our sweet corn on the cob. If you are able to get your hands on quality, fresh corn, go ahead and use that. Boil (or grill, charred corn would be amazing in this!) and then cool and cut corn kernels off of the cob.

How to store Avocado Corn Salsa

Because this salsa is so fresh, and contains avocado, you are going to want to serve it right away. The lime juice will help some with preservation, but I suggest eating it up in one to two days, for best taste. The salt will make some of the juices pull out from the veggies, so the longer it sits, the more liquidy it gets.

If you are bringing this to an event, I suggest assembling everything, except for the avocado. Bring those separately, and peel, pit, and dice them immediately before serving.

How to serve

Serve this fresh chopped salsa with your favorite tortilla chips. My favorite are Xochitl. However, they are a little thin and break easily when scooping up a more hearty chopped salsa, such as this one. My husband's preference is El Milagro.

This Avocado Black Bean Salsa can also be served as a salad. In this case, feel free to chop up the ingredients a little bit larger, as they will be eaten with a fork.

Lastly, try serving this on top of a grilled chicken breast for the perfect light summer dinner!

Looking for more fresh summer recipes?

• Red Robin Copycat Ensenada Chicken Platter
• Rainbow Quinoa Salad
• Sweet Corn and Arugula Salad
• Steak Fajita Taco Salad

This recipe has been shared on Meal Plan Monday.