Tomato, Feta and Chickpea Salad

I made a modified version of this salad for dinner tonight.  I don't know about Martha's version, but mine came out fabulous and Rafe and I loved it.  Amelia not so much and Livi chewed all the flavor out of it and spit it back out.  Hard to describe how she does that, but imagine chewing meat until all the flavor is gone and then not swallowing it.  Yuck.

Here's my version:

• No green beans.
• Use sea salt
• Zest 1 whole lemon instead of cutting 3 wide strips into matchsticks (can you say GIANT waste of time to do it the original way?!?!)
• I got 3 tbsp of lemon juice from .5 of a lemon
• 4 tbsp red onion (I hate it when a recipe says use a small onion - I'm never sure so I measured this one)
• 3 oz feta just because
• no parsley
• fresh basil (approximately 1 tbsp chopped fine)

I made it about 4 hours ahead of time and it tasted MUCH better after it sat.  We served it with some roasted chicken breast seasoned with onion, garlic, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.  Delish!

Here is the actual recipe, with my changes:

1 lemon, zested

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 pt cherry tomatoes, halved

4 tbsp minced red onion

1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 oz feta cheese, crumbled 

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil (don't even bother using dried.  If you don't have fresh, skip this recipe and make another time)

Mix.  Let sit a few hours.  Eat.

Edited to add - I ate this for breakfast today and the leftovers were so tasty 2 days later.  The flavors really bloomed.  The tomatoes looked a bit sad but they tasted fine.