Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Photo: flickr user avlxyz

Ingredients

4 lrg Red or green sweet peppers

1 tablespoon Olive oil

1 cup Onion, chopped

2 Celery stalks, diced

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Chili powder

1 teaspoon Basil

1/2 teaspoon Oregano

2 cups Brown rice, cooked

1 1/2 cups Red kidney beans, cooked, drained

Cayenne to taste

1 1/2 cups Tomatoes, canned, with their juice

1 can Tomato paste (6 oz)

Preparation

Wash the peppers and cut them in half lengthwise.

Remove the seeds.

Place the peppers, cut side facing down, on a rack above boiling water.

Cover the pot and steam for about 10 minutes, or until the peppers are just beginning to get soft. To ensure even doneness, do not stack the peppers on top of each other; keep them in a single layer. If you have a wok with a steaming rack, all the peppers can be steamed at the same time. If not, do them in two batches.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Ad the onions, celery, cumin, chili powder, basil and oregano. Saute until the onions are almost tender.

Add the cooked rice and beans. Mix well; then add the shoyu or tamari and the cayenne to taste. Mix again.

Lightly oil a shallow 7 - x - 11" baking dish. Fill each pepper with the bean and rice mixture and place the peppers side by side in the baking dish.

Mix together the canned tomatoes and the tomato paste.

If the tomatoes ar whole, chop them or break themup with a fork.

Pour the tomato mixture over the stuffed peppers.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 deg for 30 minutes.

Serve with a big green saslad and slices of ripe avocado.

Variation:Use 2 cups of tomato sauce instead of the canned tomatoes mixed with tomato paste.