Cowboy Caviar

I have a thing for bean salads....love them!  If you like the other bean salad I have on my blog, then you'll love this one! I eat it as a salad or serve with organic blue corn tortilla chips for an appetizer.  This is another great salad that my teenagers take to school with them for lunch.  It lasts several days in the frig.

Prep time: 15 min

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 to 2 tsp hot sauce, optional (I did one tsp...wasn't too hot at all)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

"caviar"
1 can, 15 oz, black eyed peas (I had a hard time finding these!  Finally found at Sprouts in the Eden Organics line)
2 cups tomatoes, finely chopped
2 cups fresh corn kernels (or thawed from frozen) (I used 1 cup frozen corn and 1 cup canned white shoepeg corn since I didn't have enough frozen)
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Whisk dressing ingredients in a large bowl.  Add "caviar" ingredients and mix gently.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes to let the flavors blend.  Serves as a salad, or as a dip with tortilla chips.  Makes 12 1/2 cup servings.