Middle Eastern Pasta Salad

This is inspired by a recipe from Molly Yeh of Girl Meets Farm. I couldn't find the recipe, so I did what I remembered and added some of my own things too. :) This is a great choice for a light side dish for Labor Day or any day!

You can also eat this as a meal. You can mix in chicken if you like.

What I used:

- Farfalle noodles

- Cucumber

- Tomato

- Feta crumbles

- Lemon (for zest)

- Oil

- Garbanzo beans/Chickpeas

- Cumin (for garbanzo beans)

- Paprika (for garbanzo beans)

- Salt & pepper (to taste)

First, I got some water boiling for the pasta.

Then I got a pan out with some oil in it on medium-high on a burner to toast the garbanzo beans.

While the pasta was boiling, I made the "sauce" for the pasta salad. I zested a lemon, added 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil, and added some salt and pepper.

I also chopped the cucumber and tomatoes.

Then I drained the liquid from the garbanzo beans and I toasted them in some oil. While in the pan, I added a generous amount of cumin and paprika for some flavor and kick.

Once the pasta was done, I drained it and added it to the lemon-oil mixture and tossed the pasta. Then I added in chunks of the tomatoes and cucumber.

Next, I added feta crumbles. To top it off, I added the toasted garbanzo beans.