Chickpea Salad

My lovely husband took me out to lunch the other day at my favorite restaurant in town, The Plaza Cafe. I love this place because most of their food is organic, non-GMO, and just fresh and delicious. I ordered a new dish, which is not my style (I like to stick with what I know). I am glad I did though, because my chicken guacamole wrap was yummy. I ordered it with a side of chickpea salad and that was the best part of the whole meal. One of my favorite things to do, culinary wise, is to eat out and then recreate the meal at home. I am so glad I tried to recreate this salad. SO GOOD! The recipe is sort of a taste-as-you-go recipe, so nothing is really measured out. Taste and see!

2 cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

half of a English cucumber -chopped

a few handfuls of julienned carrots

half of a large red onion -diced

3 0r 4 small celery sticks -chopped

Drizzle olive oil two or three times around the bowl.

Do the same with either red or white wine vinegar. I used red, but pretty sure the Plaza used white. Either one is good.

Salt conservatively.

Pepper liberally.

A few tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.

Two cap-fulls of lime juice.

1 tablespoon of pure cane sugar or honey.

Toss together and let sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

*variations...

Next time I would leave the cucumber out (which is something I added that was not in the original recipe) because the flavor seems to over power the entire dish the second day. It is good if you aren't planning on having left overs though.

I will definitely add red peppers the next time I make this. More celery and maybe add some fresh sweet corn.

I would use cumin in this if there were no cucumbers. Especially with the addition of corn and peppers.

Instead of wine vinegar you could use balsamic and add a squeeze of Dijon mustard, leave out the cilantro. That would be yummy.

Cooking is all about discovering what you like, what works and what doesn't. Be creative and make mistakes. It's fun.