Summery Garbanzo Bean Salad (Vegan Friendly) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Salad
2 (15 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained well
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1/4 red onion, peeled and diced
1/4 cup Italian parsley, minced
6 dates, pitted and thinly sliced (she used deglet noors)
8 pitted kalamata olives
1/2 teaspoon thyme (she used dried but you can use fresh if you have it)
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
Dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
lemon juice (juice of 1/2 lemon, approximately)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (dark)
2 teaspoons honey (use agave or other suitable sweetener for the vegan version) or 2 teaspoons Agave (use agave or other suitable sweetener for the vegan version)

Preparation

Place drained garbanzo beans in a non-reactive salad bowl. Now add the remaning salad ingredients to the bowl.
Whisk together the dressing and pour over the bean mixture. Stir gently.
Cover and refrigerate several hours for best flavor. Serve at *room temperature*. The flavor of the salad we discovered is best the next day after it has marinated overnight.
Garnish with freshly parsley and/or lemon slices if desired. I think the salad would taste delicious served over a bed of arugula or baby spinach.
Yield is estimated.