As the holiday season approaches, easy and flavorful recipes can elevate any gathering. Chef Charles is offering up some ideas that reimagine a classic—green beans—making them a crowd-pleasing dish with restaurant-quality flavor.

Chef Charles, who has worked in various restaurants and hotels, explains that green beans don’t need to be bland or overcooked, like many remember from childhood. “I joke with my grandma … I was like, grandma, they’re green beans, not brown beans because she cooks them for so long,” he says, pointing out that keeping green beans crisp is key to a tasty dish.

For his first recipe, Chef Charles prepares spicy sesame green beans. Starting with a hot wok, he combines sesame oil, crushed red pepper, garlic, and soy sauce. “This is going to come together real quick,” he says, adding fresh, blanched green beans directly into the mixture. In just a couple of minutes, the beans are vibrant and infused with a blend of spicy, savory flavors. He finishes the dish with sweet red peppers, providing a colorful, fresh touch.

Chef Charles notes that this dish is surprisingly easy. “I think a lot of people, when they do something different like this, think it’s going to be super time-consuming or difficult, and it doesn’t have to be,” he says, reminding home cooks that fresh green beans can be a quick and healthy appetizer.

In the second version, Chef Charles highlights garlic as the star ingredient in a recipe for “garlicky green beans.” He uses a bit of olive oil with a touch of crushed red pepper in a warm pan to start, then adds garlic. “We’re gonna use a little more garlic than you might think just to really put it over the top,” he explains.

He blanches the green beans in salted boiling water for two minutes before transferring them to the pan with garlic, adding cherry tomatoes to create a vibrant color contrast. “This style of cooking is great because it maintains all of the nutrients,” Chef Charles notes, explaining that minimal cooking preserves the beans’ texture and natural benefits.

The garlicky green beans are ready in minutes, and he encourages home chefs to customize the garlic level to their taste. “Everything with cooking is to taste,” he says, acknowledging that preferences for flavors like spice or salt can vary widely.

As Chef Charles demonstrates, green beans can be a versatile, healthful addition to any meal, and they don’t need to be boiled beyond recognition to taste great. For those interested in more of Chef Charles’s culinary tips, his recently released book, “Eat Easy and Easy with Chef Charles,” is available on Amazon.