Costa Boutsikaris is an award winning filmmaker based out of Upstate New York. He graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts with a BA in Visual Arts and began his first feature documentary INHABIT:A Permaculture Perspective, driving around the Northeast for two years documenting permaculture design strategies. Costa shot, directed and edited INHABIT and it premiered in March 2015 screening all across the the USA winning multiple awards including the Audience Choice Award at the Princeton Environmental Film Festival and Yale Environmental Film Festival. He has also been creating content for small farms and design courses helping promoting sustainable ideas and learning opportunities through film. When not working with cameras he works with a forestry crew managing woodlands and wildlife habitats in the Finger- lakes Region.
Stuffed Zucchini with Middle Eastern Vegetables, Preserved Lemon and Rice
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
1 large, 14” long zucchini, cut lengthwise, or 2 smaller ones
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup pumpkin or butternut squash, diced
2 preserved lemons, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped greens, (swiss chard, kale, mizuna)
2 cups broccoli, cut into florets
1 cup red cherry tomatoes
1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes
½ cup kalamata olives, cut in half
2 cups cooked rice, (I used organic, short grain brown rice and Red Bhutan Rice)
½ t. cumin
1 t. salt
1 t. Ras el Hanout
½ cup pine nuts
1/3 cup chopped mint
Olive oil
With a spoon, remove the seeds of the zucchini, so that you are hollowing out the center. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and Ras el Hanout seasoning. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay out the zucchini . Cover with another piece of parchment paper and bake at 375* for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in large wok, sauté onions and carrots in Olive Oil for 5 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add the pumpkin, celery, and garlic, and cook another 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, the preserved lemons, the greens, and the olives. Cook until the greens are soft and reduced in size. Add the cumin, salt and Ras el Hanout. Add the cherry tomatoes, mint, pine nuts and rice. Stuff the zucchini with the vegetable rice mixture. Bake covered for 20 minutes, until the zucchini is soft when poked with a fork. Remove from oven and serve on a bed of rice, garnished with mint and cherry tomatoes.
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