Matthew Woolen is a master pastry chef and has worked in a variety of Seattle restaurants, including gastropub Old Sage, Zhu Dang, and a gluten-free restaurant called Capitol Cider.

Matthew Woolen

For a fresh take on a summer side for your next cookout, try this grilled beet salad with hearty swiss chard, dukkah, and a creamy tahini dressing. Beet salads usually require time-consuming cooking methods like sous vide or slow-roasting to get the famously crunchy root vegetables to the perfect tender texture before pairing them with usual suspects like creamy, tangy goat cheese. Not this salad. Instead, I quickly grill thin slices of beets over ripping hot charcoal until they’re lightly charred on the outside and tender-crisp in the center, and then cover the pieces in a bowl to let them steam off-heat.I toss the beets with raw chard leaves—the stems get grilled along with the beets—and a simple tahini dressing of sesame paste, lemon juice, and a touch of water. A sprinkling of nutty North African dukkah gives this salad an earthy spice note for a summer side that can stand on its own as a light meal.

Grilled Beet and Chard Salad With Tahini Dressing and Dukkah