Farm-raised venison salad with beetroot and feta

You can make this salad even easier to prepare by using a store-bought beetroot hummus in place of the beetroot puree.

Ingredients

1 packet	NZ Farm Raised Venison medallions, 350g, at room temperature (Main)
3	Corn cobs, or use any other seasonal vegetable eg. kumara, pumpkin, parsnip etc
1 large handful	Baby spinach, or salad mix
4	Basil leaves
100 g	Green beans, trimmed, blanched and refreshed in cold water
100 g	Feta (Main)
½	Avocados, sliced
2	Radishes, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp	Pine nuts, toasted
250 g	Beetroot puree, see recipe below (or use store-bought beetroot hummus) (Main)
250 g	Ricotta cheese
1 drizzle	Olive oil, to serve

For the beetroot puree

½	Red onions, sliced
1 knob	Ginger, sliced
4 cloves	Garlic
1	Red chilli, sliced
1 ½ tsp	Flaky sea salt
40 g	Red wine vinegar, or white wine vinegar
130 g	Brown sugar
75 g	Tomatoes, sliced
½ tsp	Ground turmeric
300 g	Beetroot, peeled and grated
75 g	Verjuice, or red wine or water
300 ml	Water

Directions

1. Add a little oil to a hot frying pan. Once the oil is very hot, place the medallions into the pan. Cook for 20 seconds on each side and roll very quickly to seal the sides of the meat. Remove from the pan and place on a chopping board. Slice venison and add to the salad once ready.
2. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Remove skin and husks from corn and blanch in the boiling water. (If using other seasonal vegetable, simply chop into cubes and roast with some oil in an oven.) Chargrill corn by placing over a medium heat on the barbecue or stovetop using a chargrill pan (with a handle and sides) or a flat chargrill plate. Then slice into rounds.
3. Arrange salad leaves in a bowl or platter and add torn pieces of basil. Top with chargrilled corn rounds (or roasted vegetables), beans, crumbled feta and avocado.
4. Add the venison slices and top with radish and a sprinkle of toasted pinenuts.
5. Mix cold beetroot puree with ricotta and dollop on top of the salad. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

For the beetroot puree

1. In a pot caramelise the onion, ginger, garlic, red chilli and salt in a splash of oil. Once caramelised add in the vinegar, stir to make sure it is boiling then add the sugar.
2. Add the tomatoes and turmeric then stir. Cook for 5 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated from the tomatoes, then add the beetroot, verjuice and water. Bring it to the boil, cook it on a medium to high heat, stirring frequently until the beetroot is soft.
3. Strain through a sieve and reserve the liquid. In a food processor, blitz the beetroot mix to a puree, add some of the reserved liquid if needed to help blend to a smooth puree then cool.