Oriental noodle salad

Hooray, the sun’s shining! After what seems like forever spring has appeared and the sun is shining and what better way to celebrate than a wonderful, flavourful salad for lunch? The added bonus of this salad is that the noodles improve in flavour as the days pass and are easily topped up with the fresh veggies and herbs. This will make an awesome packed lunch this week.

Oriental Noodle Salad (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan) N.B. contains soya

makes more than enough for 4

• 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
• 5 tbsps soy sauce
• 3 tbsps balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsps sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pack of wheat noodles (250g)
• 6 spring onions, finely sliced
• baby corn, sliced on the diagonal (all veg quantities are to taste)
• carrots, cut into fine matchsticks
• sugar snap peans, sliced on the diagonal
• coriander, lots

– Mix together the oil, balsamic, soy sauce, sugar and salt until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside

– Cook the noodles according to the pack instructions. Make sure they are slightly undercooked and then drain and run under cold water to halt the cooking process.

– Drain thoroughly.

– Mix the noodles into the marinade. Add the spring onions and set aside.

– Meanwhile, blanche the vegetables – 5 minutes for the baby corn, 2 minutes for the carrots and sugar snap peas. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking and keep the colour.

– When ready to serve, stir the noodles and place a pile on a plate

– Garnish with the vegetables and coriander leaves.