Appetizers: Cowboy Salsa

it's that time of year again.
the superbowl.
apparently this is a big deal (just ask my husband)
he's been wanting to throw the superbowl party at our house for weeks this year.  sadly, we never got around to inviting anyone, so we'll see if we can throw something together at the last minute.  as with any football party, you've got to have great food, right?  one of our all-time favorites is cowboy salsa.  I've had many different variations of this, but my friend april gave me the best (and most simple) one ever.

here are the key players: 3 roma tomatoes (any kind will work- you just want them to be more firm), 3 avocados, one can of corn, one can of black beans, one can of black-eyed peas, and 1/8-1/4 of a bottle of italian dressing.  oh, and you might want some tortilla chips for dipping.  that is it!  how could this be difficult?  trust me, it's not.

first, take your can of corn and your can of black-eyed peas, open 'em up, drain 'em and dump them right into a bowl. 

open up and drain your can of black beans. then rinse them off once or twice. (don't mind the hard water spots on the collander...it happens!)

dump those right in there too.

give the mixture a little spin so you can see it all come together.

now, grab your tomatoes.  dice them up and throw them into your mixture. 

i like to stir it between each step because then i know i'm getting everything mixed together well.

next up, grab your trusty avocados. (mmm-mm!) i usually put in more than i need to for this, just because i happen to have a love affair with avocados, but add as many as you want.  peel and pit the avocado and dice it on up.  squeal with glee as you add these to the bowl. (my avocados weren't quite ripe enough for this yet, so i could only use one.  you want them firm with a little give.  mine were still completely hard...boo.)

spin it all together,

then here comes the fun part:  grab your italian dressing and start squirting away.  i never measure this part, but i like it with quite a bit of the sauce.  gives it a nice little zesty kick, i think.

get that dressing in there and mix, mix, mix!

sample it here and there to make sure you like the flavor.  remember, the flavor WILL get stronger as the italian dressing marinates into everything else.

if it's not quite ready, feel free to add a little more italian dressing (if it's still a little bland), or more avocados!  the world is always better with more avocados.

after you've got it to your liking (this is the hard part), cover it, put it in your fridge, and WALK AWAY! the salsa is much better after it's had a chance to marinate overnight....or at least a couple of hours. believe me.

tomorrow when you are ready to pull it out, grab some tortilla chips, and scoop away.

happy scooping.