Udon noodle salad with mangetout and smoked salmon

In an ideal world my lunchbox would look like the one pictured above. Even after a long and busy day, I'd feel (and look) as fresh as daisy and my hair would effortlessly fall to my shoulders in soft waves without me doing anything - oh, ok, that's too much, let's just say I'd know how to handle a hair dryer. The reality, alas, looks a little different: my lunchbox is a boring little plastic container and I won't dwell on the rest. But one day, one day, I'll find one of those takeaway bento boxes and everything will just fall into place. What's more important than the lunchbox' looks, though? That's right, its content! A few weeks ago, I made this udon noodle salad with mangetout and smoked salmon and I liked it so much, I made it again the week after. It's tasty, healthy and will only take a few minutes to prepare.

Udon noodle salad with mangetout and smoked salmon (serves 1)

• 80g dried udon noodles (or another kind of japanese or thai noodles)
• 1 large handfull of frozen mangetout
• 1 handfull smoked salmon strips

For the dressing:

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Boil the udon noodles until soft, then drain and rinse quickly under cold water. Blanch the mangetout in boiling salted water for a minute or two, they should still be a little crunchy. Drain and rinse quickly under cold water. Mix the cold noodles, mangetout and salmon and put into your lunchbox. Stir all the remaining ingredients together (taste as you go along and add a little bit more of this or that, according to your taste) and pour over the salad. Mix thoroughly. Make sure not to add the dressing to the noodles while they're still slightly warm as they'll soak it all up. I prepared my salad the night before and mixed in the dressing in the morning before I went to work.