Cold Udon Noodle Salad for Jared

AW, poor Jared. It's Sunday yet again and that means he is off to do a 12-hour shift at his job that is 30-45 minutes away (on Sundays . . . it's much longer on weekdays with more traffic). It rained the past 2 days here, which means Jared didn't get to ride his bike around town too much. Plus it seems to only rain on his days off. And the final kicker? Today is one of the most gorgeous days so far this year. Its chilly, breezy but crazy sunny and everything is green. Its a "go on a picnic" kinda day really. He's super grumpy about it and I really do feel bad for him. Plus I miss him like crazy.
So, I thought the very least I could do was to make him a big lunch that he can snack on throughout his long day. I made a HUGE batch of cold udon noodle salad with Chinese eggplant (a less bitter variety of the Japanese eggplant), orange bell pepper, fried tofu, green onions and black sesame seeds. The "dressing" for the salad included peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, a healthy dose of Sriracha, sesame oil, chili oil, water, garlic, ginger (which I didn't have enough of) and rice wine vinegar. I wish I had used lime juice instead of the rice wine vinegar, which made the background too acidic without enough flavor to justify the acidity. I fried the tofu in canola oil with a little salt and drained them on a paper towel. In a screaming hot pan, I sautéed the eggplant chunks and orange bell pepper strips until they were just wilted. I think if not for the black sesame seeds and green onions, this wouldn't have been as good.
Jared said he enjoyed it, so I'm a happy lady.