Chopped Greek Salad with Lemon Dressing

No joke, this salad has been keeping me alive this summer. It's cheap, super easy to make (no cooking), tasty and a refreshing but substantial meal when it's too hot to cook. Also makes a great potluck dish (bring the toppings separately for vegan & GF options). If you don't feel like making the dressing you can use whatever bottled vinaigrette you like, or just drizzle some olive oil, vinegar, salt & pepper. If you have fresh herbs like basil, they would be great here. This yields maybe 3-4 large servings. Easy to double - it keeps in the fridge for awhile.

Salad:
- 1 large cucumber, quartered lengthwise & chopped into bite-sized pieces (peel if waxy, scoop seeds if you want. With the long wrapped English cucumbers, usually not necessary)
- 1 container grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 green onions, sliced - or 1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed

Dressing:
- 1 lemon
- small dab of dijon or stone-ground mustard
- 1 tsp maple syrup, honey or agave
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup (ish) olive oil

Optional but recommended toppings:
- crumbled feta cheese
- croutons
- olives, if you're into them (I'm not)

Combine the salad ingredients in a large storage container. For the dressing, microplane the lemon zest into a bowl and then squeeze the juice (I do this over a strainer to catch the seeds). Add the mustard, sweetener & spices and whisk. Then whisk in the olive oil slowly. I eyeball the amount and then taste and see what it needs.

Add the dressing, toss well and chill for a little while if possible. Mix in toppings just before serving.