Zucchini "Pasta" with Mushrooms, Tofu & Fresh Oregano

I made this dish a month ago, after our recent family vacation in Spain. It was really great, from a historical, cultural and gastronomical standpoint. We loved the food and could immediately identify with it, as there are many common dishes between Spanish and Filipino cuisine. However, we sorely missed vegetables! Aside from the potato and occasional eggplant, there was hardly any vegetables among the food that we ate in Spain. :( Our family likes to eat healthy and after almost two weeks of a delicious but meat intensive diet, it was time to purge and go back to simple vegetables.

Thus, the weekend after we came back, we experimented with making a fully vegetarian "pasta" made from zucchini "noodles," mushrooms, cubed tofu and fresh oregano.

ZUCCHINI "PASTA" WITH MUSHROOMS, TOFU & FRESH OREGANO
Serves 4

Ingredients:

6 large zucchinis (yellow or green, it doesn't matter)
1 medium sized onion, minced
1 head garlic, minced
2 cups firm tofu with skin, cubed into 1 cm" pieces
1 cup mushrooms (I used brown shimeji mushrooms, removed from their base; no need to cut. But any type of mushroom will do)
Sprig of fresh oregano
1 vegetable bouillon
Splash of white wine
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. With a peeler with teeth (mine is the Zyliss brand), make long strips of the zucchini. (You can also use a spiralizer if you have one.) Squeeze dry with a paper towel and drain.

My Zyliss Peeler with teeth. Perfect for making thin strips out of vegetables.

Prepare the other vegetables, like onion, garlic, tofu and mushrooms.

2. Saute the onion in some olive oil, until transparent. Add the garlic and saute some more until it is slightly brown.

3.  Add the cubed tofu and mushroom, and saute until the mushrooms are cooked.

4.  Add the fresh oregano and the vegetable bouillon (or salt, if not using bouillon). Add freshly ground pepper and the splash of white wine. Mix well.

Note: Do not add too much liquid, nor over saute the mushroom or they will "weep". You want to keep this dish a bit dry since the zucchini has so much water also and will make the dish like soup.

5. Add the zucchini and mix FAST, maximum one minute. If you cook it too long, it will become watery. Plus you want to maintain the crispness of the zucchini by not overcooking it. It's perfectly edible even when raw.

Assemble in a dish, sprinkle some more ground pepper and drizzle with olive oil (or truffle oil if you have it). Bon appetit!