Chickpea Cucumber Salad

    There's this little bakery/cafe/store in downtown Ocala named Stella's. I had lunch there last week with my fabulous friend Ayla! When you order a sandwich, they give you the option of chips or chickpea salad. I always get the chickpea salad! They inspired me! This is a bit different than theirs but it's still really good. I'm experimenting with recipes right now for my brother's deployment party next week. I totally picked a winner today. He came over for lunch and he helped himself to seconds of my chickpea salad. Score!! You could make it a day or two ahead of time and I bet everyone will love it.

Chickpea Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup of olive oil

- 2 (15.5 ounce) cans of Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) , drained

- 1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes, drained

- 1/2 of an onion, diced

- 1 whole cucumber, chopped. I like to scrape out the seeds too.

- 1 rib of celery, diced

- 2 tablespoons of fresh dill, chopped

- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic

- 3 teaspoons of red wine vinegar

- 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

- 2 teaspoons of lime juice

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

- cracked black pepper to taste

- 1 (4 ounce) package of crumpled feta cheese

    In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil. Stir in the chikpeas, cover and remove from heat. Combine all of the other ingredients well and then stir in the chickpeas. Let the salad chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.