Chickpea Salad with Herbs and Vegetables

I knew this week was going to warm up and the last thing I want to do when it gets hot is cook over a hot stove and eat something heavy.  I ate a lot of salads last summer but I hated the prep work that went with that (I'm anal about cleaning romaine leaves since I'm always worried I'll accidentally eat a bug), and bag lettuce goes bad so quickly.  This chickpea salad involves a little less prep work and chopping since the bulk of this salad are the chickpeas and not lettuce.  It's also a lot quicker to throw together on a weeknight after work if you do the chopping in advance, which is what I did.  And this is a super flavorful dish that you can eat during the hot months without feeling gross afterwards.  This can be eaten as a meal or portion it out smaller as sides to your entree.  A great thing about this salad is that you can use whatever vegetables you want so throw in your favorites for this satisfying vegetarian dish!

Servings: 2-6 (depends on how you're eating this as an entree or side dish)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup red onion, chopped
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups cucumbers, chopped (I like the Trader Joe's persian cucumbers)
1/4 kalamata olives, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

A couple notes:

• I also threw in a couple handfuls of chopped green onions that I had leftover from another dish.  I know this dish already has red onions but I love onions of all kind and can't get enough of them!  Use whatever vegetables you like for additions or substitutions)
• This dish was very flavorful and pungent in a good way but if you want it less strong, decrease the herbs and garlic a bit.  Also if you have fresh herbs and the patience to chop them, then definitely use them instead of the dried ones!  I love fresh herbs, but I got lazy and the dried herbs here were still delicious!

Instructions:

• In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 4 minced garlic cloves and whisk together.
• In a large bowl mix together 2 cans chickpeas, 3/4 chopped red onion, 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives, 1 tbsp parsley, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, 1 cup feta cheese, 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes, 2 cups chopped cucumbers, 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper.  
• Drizzle the vinegar dressing over the chickpea salad, toss well, and enjoy!

The entire time I was prepping the salad my pugs were like this:

Or like this:

Sorry girls, you can't have any!  But please come closer and stay still for a second while I taunt you with the food so that I can take some photos. 

Ok last one and then I'll give you a carrot and peanut butter treat!

Adapted from My Recipes.