Oh my God! I have been making this salad for ever, not this one exacly but a version of it. Since I'm from Guatemala, all the salsa-like dishes are very popular. No only is this delicious but also healthy and hip-friendly. What I do different is that instead of the dressing i use lemon, salt, pepper and just a little olive oil. This helps to enhace the flavor of the other ingredients, not fight them. I use about 1/4 cup of fresh, chopped cilantro (the flavor secret herb!), fresh chopped tomatoes (you are going to see the difference in flavor, consistency and low the sodium), 1 clove of fresh garlic instead of the powder one. I use the beans i cook (we always have home cooked beans in almost every home in Guatemala)but have try the canned ones, just rinse them and let them dry, the same with the sweet corn. The jalapeno is optional for me, since i don't like spice food I leave out, but for the guys I added. One last thing, let stand on the fridge for at least 1 day to let all the flavors come together.

This recipe goes in my "all time best" file! Excellent flavor. I did make a couple of changes for the better: Use green onion (3 w/tops) instead of regular onion, used 1 cup of frozen super sweet corn instead of canned, used 3-4 pieces of minced garlic instead of the powder, used chopped grape tomatoes instead of canned, used Good Seasons Zesty Italian following the lower fat recipe on the package, added a big pinch of chili powder, cumin and salt. There has never been one bit of this left! You will love it!

I have to agree with everyone, its definately addicting! I, like others, added a little cilantro, two fresh tomatoes, and two cloves of garlic. Because the chips I served were salty, I left off the Zesty Italian Dressing, and used an additional can of Mexican style stewed tomatoes. With the additional ingredients it tasted more like a salsa rather than a salad.

This was good. From all of the rave reviews, I may have initially been expecting it to be a little better. But I have to say, this salsa really is addicting. One that you find yourself mindless munching on and going back for more. Did make the following minor changes - used frozen corn (thawed while marinating), only half cup of dressing, added fresh garlic, 2 seeded plum tomatoes (in addition to the canned), juice of 1 lime, a little cumin, fresh Cilantro and then added Avocado just before serving. Personally, I think the above changes (especially the Cilantro and Avocado) add to this dish. Marinating salsa overnight really helps improve the flavor. May continue to tweak recipe slightly, but will definitely make this again! Thanks! FYI - For those who don’t care for black-eyed peas (like me), you really can’t taste them once done.

I've never had so many requests for a recipe! I've made it several times in the last few months and added a few changes. For the Italian dressing, we like Ken's Red wine vinegar and olive oil, a can of drained hominy for a fun texture, a clove of fresh minced garlic in place of the garlic salt, green onions (all I had at the time) plus their tops, 1/2 a teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 a teaspoon of chili powder, two to four roasted jalapenos (depending on where it's being served) and like everyone else, cilantro and lime juice. I whisk all the dressing ingredients together while I drain and rinse the beans. Addicting!

Delicious, easy, and fresh tasting! Great for summer BBQ's. I used fresh tomatoes and jalepenos instead of canned. I also added a heaping half teaspoon of cumin. Here is a good suggestion to improve the "soupy-ness"- Prepare a day ahead, and then drain the excess liquid right before serving. It still has all the flavor because it had time to marinate, but it is not so liquidy.

I have made this recipe 5 times already and people claim it is addictive! I agree and LOVE this recipe! It is colorful and fun to make, and like someone else mentioned, you can't mess this one up. I put this in pita's with turkey, eat it with chips and have simply ate it right from the bowl on a spoon! I've made small changes each time I have made this and yes, it is even better the next day. Today's batch went something like this: Frozen sweet corn instead of canned, fresh Roma tomatoes instead of canned, 1/2 cup each red and orange bell pepper for color and sweetness, I omit the green pepper. Red onion for color, fresh chopped garlic instead of powder, 1/4 C red wine vinegar, 1/4 C rice vinegar 1/2 C italian dressing. We are not cilantro lovers so I do not add that but many others do.

I love this stuff! I made some last night and it was good even though the beans, etc. didn't have long to marinate in the dressing. I omitted the garlic powder since the dressing I used is pretty garlicy. I used Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian (I think that's what it's called). I was going to use fresh cilantro, but accidently picked up parsley, so I ended up using dried cilantro which was fine. I used fresh chopped cherry tomatoes and one small jalapeno. Other than that, I followed the recipe and just added onions and bell peppers to my taste. ***One thing to note: I happened to have this recipe and I only made it once. A friend made this for a get-together and I loved it. She gave me the recipe and I made it and I didn't like it even a little bit. Now that I think about it, it must have something to do with the brand of Italilan dressing I used (which was probably Kraft Italian). So, just make sure that you use a dressing that you like when you make this.

I am always being asked to bring this to our gatherings. Would not change a thing. This is perfect just the way it is!!!!!!!!!

Loved it! I used 2 chopped fresh jalapeno peppers (seeds and membranes removed) instead of the canned ones. Also drained the black-eyed peas and omitted the onion. Thanks for the recipe!