Fodder beet doesn’t have to reserved for animal feed. Kath Fox tosses sliced fodder beet with veggies, rice noodles and a zippy dressing. 

Recipe: Kath Fox  Photos: Dan Kerins

When Kath Fox’s sister gave her a Benriner mandolin for Christmas, she knew just want she wanted to make – a salad from fodder beet. The root vegetable – like a swede, mangelbeet or sugar beet – is generally used as animal feed, but Kath says they’re delicious. “And it really amuses me to feed people the same thing as our calves.”

While fodder eats are more an autumn and winter vegetable, Kath says her recipe is very flexible and similar vegetables – or “anything with crunch” – can be substituted. “The proteins could also be anything – shredded poached chicken, BBQ prawns, rare beef – but obviously the correct one is lamb. Should a lost vegetarian stray across the cattle stop then simply leave out the protein.”

INGREDIENTS

For the salad:
2 lamb loins or 4 lamp rumps seared on the BBQ until medium rare, then rested before finely slicing
4 large handfuls of vegetables introduced to the mandolin, such as fodder beet, turnip, swede, carrot, green papaya (if locatable)
iceberg lettuce – but don’t give it the mandolin treatment – it will sulk
200 grams rice vermicelli or glass noodles
1 handful of sugar snap peas or edamame beans (defrosted – no need to cook)
1 red onion
1 small cucumber
2 red, orange or yellow pepper
1 handful bean sprouts
2 handfuls of mint/coriander (roughly torn)
sliced chillies (optional)

Dressing:
4 tbsp lime juice
4 tbsp fish sauce
4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tbsp avocado oil
1 tbsp sugar

METHOD

Pour boiling water on the noodles, cover and soak for five minutes. Deseed and chop cucumber, slice the peppers and very finely slice the red onion. Drain noodles and administer a few drops of sesame oil to stop them sticking together – go easy with the oil as it has a strong flavour. Shake the dressing ingredients together in a jar.

Assemble salad ingredients together on a platter and mix through the dressing. Serve with any or all of the optional extras.

Optional extras to serve: Quartered limes, chopped roast peanuts, fried shallots, extra slices chillies, freshly grated turmeric, siracha sauce

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