Mexican-Style Chickpea Salad

Note from Cheri: This recipe is from James Peterson's wonderful book "Vegetables." Follow this link to learn more about this invaluable book. Say James: "I don't know if they really serve a salad like this in Mexico, but it seems they should. Mexican cooks are fond of chickpeas and these ingredients are typically Mexican. I serve this salad as a side dish at out door barbecues."

4 cups cooked chickpeas , or 4 cups drained canned chickpeas (from two 15 oz. cans), rinsed 1 med. onion, minced 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed 3 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced 2 canned chipotle chiles in sauce, rinsed, seeded and minced (optional) 3 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (optional) 4 T extra-virgin olive oil 4 T fresh lime juice, or more to taste 3 T chopped fresh cilantro salt and freshly ground black pepper

Makes 8 side-dish servings Combine all the ingredients and let marinate for 2 hours. Adjust the salt and pepper and the lime juice to taste. Serve slightly cool.