Quinoa Or Rice Stuffed Peppers - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finley chopped (1 cup)
2 celery ribs, finley chopped (1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced (2 tsp)
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dy
2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained, reserve liquid
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup quinoa or 3/4 cup rice
3 large carrots, grated (1 1/2 c)
1 1/2 cups grated reduced-fat monterey jack pepper cheese, divided
4 large red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

Preparation

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook 5 minutes or until soft. Add Cumin and garlic, and saute for 1 minute. Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes or until most of the liqued has evaporated.
Stir in black beans, quinoa or rice, carrots, and 2 cups of water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Stir in 1 cup of cheese. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
Preheat oven to 350. Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.
Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4 c quiona mixture, and place in baking dish. Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour. Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 Tbs. remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes. Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each peppers with pan juices before serving.