The Absolute Best Greek Cucumber Salad

This is the absolute best cucumber salad! I promise I'm not just saying this because it's my own recipe. I mean, I may be a little bias, but this salad is so good. I made this one with orzo pasta for our free cooking community class, last week. But often times, I leave out the pasta or substitute it with cooked quinoa. Make sure you don't peel your cucumber, and scrape out the insides. This will make sure it doesn't juice too much when storing the leftovers. That's IF you actually have leftovers.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large cucumber, unpeeled, gutted and diced

• 1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained

• 1 cup orzo pasta, cooked and drained (optional)

• 1/4 red bell pepper, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 TBS red onion, diced small

• 2 tsp fresh dill, removed from stem and finely chopped (Sub: dried dill)

• 1 TBS fresh curly or flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (Sub: dried parsley)

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• 2 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

• 1 TBS white wine vinegar

• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

• 1 TBS feta cheese, crumbled

• 1 tsp salt + 1 tsp pepper, more or less to taste

• (optional) 2 tsp honey or agave nectar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Slice your cucumbers in half, length wise. Use a spoon to scrape out the guts and seeds. Using the tip of your knife, slide it down the cucumber halves to create long strips. Line the strips up, and chop across to create small diced pieces. See above.

2. Place cucumber pieces in a large salad bowl and top with all remaining ingredients. Toss around and serve with any of your favorite meals or as an addition to your favorite salad.