Heating tomatoes breaks down cell walls that allows more lycopene to be released and available for the body to absorb. Cooked tomato products such as stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and salsa provide the best sources of lycopene.
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2 cups cooked chickpeas, well rinsed if using canned
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1 cup of your favourite salsa or stewed tomatoes if preferred
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1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
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Heat oven to 350 F.
Simply combine chickpeas and salsa together and medium size pot on the stove. Allow mixture to reach the ‘boiling’ point, stirring continuously.
Place mixture into 4 small ramekins (1/2 cup servings) or 2 one cup ramekins or a larger casserole dish. Top each with cheese and place in oven for 5 minutes (this is simply to melt the cheese, the mixture will already be hot from the stove). Switch to broil for the last minute if you wish to brown the cheese.
Enjoy this simple, nutritious meal.
Such a simple recipe but it sounds so perfectly delicious. Sounds like the perfect lazy Saturday quick lunch! I can’t wait to make it.
Hi CJ! thanks so much for dropping by and honouring me with a blog post dedicated to chick ‘n’ cheese! I’m so glad you liked it and felt compelled to post about it… that’s so wonderful. I really appreciate you dropping in to let me know (you left your comment in the perfect spot!) ;-). Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Kelly, Please accept my apologies for posting this here but I couldn’t find an email address anywhere on the site. I made your chickpeas and cheese recipe and was so inspired that I had to blog about it myself. I love this recipe and posted my thoughts today. Just thought you might want to know … Keep up the good work!
What an incredible idea! This is exactly the type of food that I like to prepare and eat … Simple, healthy and wholesome. I am printing this out so I can make this week!
What a delightful idea! I must try this :)
Thanks Foodjaunts! I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try… I find it quite yummy especially dressed up with some added veggies… so easy too.
thanks MJ – I love having quick lunch options when I’m dashing from one thing to the next – something satisfying, nutritive but not labour/time intensive.
Hee.hee, what is wrong with you?!! ;-)
Thanks for visiting!
This is such a great idea! Chickpeas and cheese – so many added nutrients. I know what I’m taking for lunch at some point soon :)
Oh Yummy! Quick, easy and tasty! A better texture than mac n cheese and definitely healthier!
What is wrong with me? I’ve never combined the two. Great photos too.
What a creative twist on a classic! And I love that you swapped out the pasta with chickpeas – what a great way to boost the fiber content of this dish!
Haha, I love you Jen! You’re so awesome and real. Maybe one day… the rest of the family will embark but if not, hope you enjoy!
thanks Stephanie! Chickpeas seem to be popular and that’s a good thing :) Hope your day is going great.
Hello Eliot! this one is so easy and portable – just warm up your thermos and off you go! :)
Thanks so much for dropping by Tasty Galaxy and welcome to Inspired Edibles… I’m glad the recipe appeals… I too love the oven melted cheese… :)
Hi Linda, I’m glad you like the idea – I think you will find it very satisfying on the yum scale… :)
Thanks so much Caroline – simple is sometimes best. Agreed, cheese is hard to resist and so are your lemon squares young lady!! :)
Droolworthy is always good… hee.hee!
Thanks you Tiffany! Our family really enjoys this one; hope you do too.
Haha, I’m with you sister on the molten cheese… yes, please join our association of chickpea lovers to elevate their status – hee.hee! :0)
Hi Amy!! Hope your tummy is treating you well these days… thinking of you and your adorable pink outfits… so exciting! :)
Hi Becca! Thanks so much for dropping in and welcome to Inspired Edibles! The combo of chick’ and cheese is a pretty yummy one… glad it appeals to you :)
It’s a bit different but super simple and… if I dare say, super yummy! Happy Saturday Kay :)
yay chickpeas! let’s start an association of chickpea lovers ;-)
Haha, super! I hope you and the kids enjoy… I find it so simple as a lunch option for all of us, plus it’s so easy to vary according to taste preference.
Thanks so much for letting me know about the salmon – I’m thrilled you enjoyed and appreciate the feedback.
Hope you’re having a great weekend Kristy!
A pretty good nutrient punch for something so simple… thanks Em!
I’m all about keep it simple :) – thanks so much Jeannette!
You got it! thanks Amy… I’m still thinking of your tasty granola bars… mmmm….. ;-)
Thank you Junia! You could use non-dairy cheese if you wanted to give it a go… pretty darn yummy! :)
I love eating warmed up stewed tomatoes… even on their own sometimes, I get cravings for them (something my mom and I ate as snack together when I was a kid…). Hope the glorious Florida sun is shining bright on you today Suzi!
Excellent! I hope you enjoy it Ashley… have a super day :)
And so easy… hope you enjoy if you give it a try. Happy Weekend Beauty – xo
Not to mention the calcium in that glass of milk! hee.hee, have a great day Lisa!
Yay!! So happy you enjoyed it and thank you so much for taking the time to drop in to let me know. The navy bean paste sounds wonderful… Have a great day Eva :)
Sounds great Eva… look forward to hearing…!
Thanks Yummy – I hope you like it if you give it a try!
Indian is always a delicious choice! now you’ve given me more ideas… :) Thanks Helene!
Love homemade salsa and adore the combination of warm salsa and melted cheese… brings me back to my childhood days when my mom and I used to have rice with cooked tomatoes for snack… Hope you’re having a great weekend Charles!
haha, not sure my mind is especially imaginative but you know what they say about necessity being the mother of invention – with youngsters, you’re sometimes operating in that mode to come up with alternate ways of getting them to eat well ;-)
Beyond simple, agreed. I am for that ;-) Thanks Chris!
haha, thanks Sissi! (i can’t imagine you not being nice…) – I love the taste and comfort of mac & cheese but can’t get passed the junk part… the warm, cheesy, tomato chickpeas seem to offer that same swoon-effect without the downside ;-). Hope you’re having a great weekend Sissi!
eating them right now :)
I’m not entirely sure I could convince anyone else in my family to eat this, but I would love it!
I could eat an entire can of chick peas in one sitting. I’m soo going to make this!
I cannot wait to try this. I bet it is delicious. I have been needing to get back to taking my own lunch and not eating the carb-rich (and preservative) rich food in our cafeteria! This makes the cut for me.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I love chickpeas, and this recipe looks so simple and so delicious. The cheese on top looks fabulous.
Kelly….I am sooo excited to see this! Of course I love mac and cheese, but I really don’t want to eat big bowls of it!! This is a wonderful guilt free version!
Such a brilliant idea, Kelly!! Mac and cheese with a healthy twist. I’m a huge chickpea fan and obviously can’t get enough of cheese (who really can?), so there’s nothing here I wouldn’t like. Yum!
Adore chickpeas and this looks droolworthy with cheese.
We made this last night and it was delicious. I made a navy bean paste and used it as a roux for the cheese sauce…absolutely delightful. I will be doing this again. Thanks Kelly
What a great alternative to Mac & Cheese!
Ooh look at that molten cheese. Makes me want to dive in. Chickpeas are underrated, I think – if smothering them with cheese makes the world more likely to pay attention to them, then that can only be a good thing…!
Wow, So easy and I love both of the main ingredients! Thank you Kelly. :-)
What a great idea! I love chickpeas, and I love cheese even more!
You have just introduced me to something new.. I never heard of chickpeas with cheese before. But boy does it look scrumptious
I can’t get enough of chickpeas lately…I love this!
Oh heck yes! I’m all over this. I have no doubt that both of my kids will eat it and it will make a fantastic lunch for me. We can’t seem to get enough chickpeas around here. It’s so odd to me that we only first ate them about six months ago. I can’t imagine my life without them now. LOL. :) This is just fabulous Kelly! I love it. Oh and by the way, I made your salmon and strawberries this week. Yummo! :)
love how simple (and nutrient rich) this is!
Love how simple and satisfying this “mac” and cheese is!
Sounds delicious! Love the tasty alternative to carb-laden mac and cheese.
i like this rendition on mac and cheese. much healthier than the traditional version!
I can definitely go for this as a mac & cheese replacement. Garbanzos anytime, I just love them and stewed tomatoes sound really good. Great combinattion.
This is too easy (and pleasing to the eye) not to try! Can’t wait to give this one a go. xx
I love love love chickpeas. This looks ‘out of this world’ good, Kelly.
I wish I could have some for my lunch right now. :) Xx
A nice spin on an old favorite! I love chickpeas and think I’ll give this one a try! Plus, just think of all the calcium in this version from not only the cheese but from the chickpeas too!
This sounds so good Kelly, we’re making it tonight! Thanks for the inspiration…again!
What a great idea! I’m going to have to do this tonight.
Hi Kelly!
when I think of chickpeas I end up with spicy indian plates. The thing is I am not that much of a chickpea lover but my husband is and I have been avoiding that kg in my pantry for a while now. Chickpeas taste plain to me usualy but I realy would love to try your recipe with tomato sauce and cheese. My husband would be happy about that!
thanks for sharing! =)
Yeah – gradually feeling a bit better so hopefully I can start cooking aubergine and tomato things again :'(
It doesn’t help that whenever it’s mentioned to a doctor their response is “er, are you sure it’s not a ‘gastro'”. Come on – regular nausea every day at 5-6pm and they think it’s a stomach bug? Grr!
Oh…, my sympathies…I remember those days and the giant misleading term ‘morning’ sickness (it should be renamed around the clock sickness ;-) – I hope all is going well à part ça ?
Hi Kelly, I love the sound of this – I think it would go perfectly with a salsa I made not long ago too – love cheese with a slight sting of chilli and garlicky salsa, on top of a big pile of chick peas! Definitely healthier than a big clod of pasta. I don’t think I actually ever had cheese and chickpeas together before. I’ll be making this soon – as soon as my wife can stomach eating tomatoes again :D
Not a great fan of mac and cheese especially those with the groovy colored powders! Now this is something I’d definitely go for, mainly because I love chickpeas. I’ve used them in my salads often. I’ve never thought of them used this way at all, as simple as it may be … not a very imaginative mind, my brain. Added to my list of “recipes to make asap”. Thanks, Kelly.
Kelly, this looks so good and yet what a simple recipe! We all need more of these. I bet it would also be quite delicious with a homemade salsa. My salsa recipe makes so much – now I know what to do with some of it – thanks!
Kelly, I don’t say this just to be nice to you (although I like you a lot and I want to be nice too!), but your chickpeas and cheese looks thousand times better and more appealing than every mac and cheese I have ever seen. Since I have never tasted this famous North American dish, I will not even regret it when I make your chickpeas with cheese (that is after your eggs muffins ;-) ). Your lovely photo reminds me I have individual baking dishes and love serving food in them!
So easy, I love the idea – chickpeas are definitely a great healthy alternative to pasta.