Venison and beetroot salad

Michael Craig

Venison is tasty and really lean and a great source of iron. It is a rich meat and it is so yummy when roasted with lots of rosemary and garlic. We love having this gorgeous meat with balsamic roasted beetroot — beetroot is really good for you with many nutritional benefits and has a delicious earthy flavour. Add a few dark green spinach leaves and the roasting juices from the beetroot to dress and you are in business.

Beetroot

6 small	Beetroot, washed and cut into quarters
3 Tbsp	Balsamic vinegar
1	Lemon, freshly zested and juiced
2 Tbsp	Coconut oil
2 sprigs	Fresh thyme
1 tsp	Salt

Venison

400 g	Venison, rump roast (Main)
½ cup	Fresh rosemary, chopped finely
1 Tbsp	Black peppercorns
1 clove	Garlic, halved
1 bag	Baby spinach
1 tsp	Salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the beetroot in a roasting dish and coat in the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, coconut oil, salt and thyme. Cover with a lid or tinfoil and place in the oven for 1 hour. Remove and rest.
2. Preheat oven to 200C. Pat venison dry with paper towels and cover with rosemary, salt and black pepper. Place the garlic on the bottom of a roasting dish and place the venison on top of the garlic halves. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
3. Arrange spinach leaves and beetroot on a serving dish. Cut the venison against the grain and arrange on top of the salad. Use the roasting juices from the beetroot as the dressing for the salad. We served ours with some chopped walnuts and parsley.