Vegetarian pad thai

I've recently became a tofu eating freak. Don't get me wrong, thre's nothing wrong with eating tofu, or with being a freak for that matter. The wierd thing about my tofu eating habit is that I have loathed tofu for so long, I was actually famous for campaining against "that cardboard-like crap". I would tell to everyone that listened to me that never would I dream of ruining a perfectly good dish by putting tofu in it. And so on.

The problem, if you are wondering what my problem was, is that the only way I had ever had tofu was in miso soup and, let's be honest, when you eat it like that it doen't taste like much. And I find that the broth makes it kind of slimey too, which is not my favorite consistency in the world.

I had to go to a Japanese restaurant in Milano to change my mind. There, because of a mistake, they brought me a noodle dish with tofu instead of chicken. What a revelation. Because it was sauteed in spices and condiments, it was actually yummy. There and then I decided that tofu would become part of my diet. I bought it shortly afterward and tried my first tofu recipe at home, adapting a Cooking Light pad thai recipe. Success!

VEGETARIAN PAD THAI

Sauce:

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons apple vinegar

1 to 2 tablespoons hot sauce

1 tablespoon honey

Noodles:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 5 ounces)

1 cup matchstick cut zucchini 

1 garlic clove, minced

8 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cup light coconut milk  

1 cup (1-inch) sliced green onion tops

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1/3 cup dry-roasted peanuts

8 ounces uncooked wide rice stick noodles (Banh Pho), cooked and drained

5 lime wedges

To prepare sauce, combine first 4 ingredients, stirring with a whisk.

To prepare noodles, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, zucchini, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add sauce and tofu; cook 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk; cook 2 minutes. Stir in green onions and next 3 ingredients (lettuce through noodles); cook 1 minute.

Serve with lime wedges.