Ah, the holidays. The time of year we plan elaborate parties for friends and family, dust off old copies of Martha Stewart Living to learn how to make festive decorations from the flowers we’ve preserved this year from our gardens, and make gingerbread houses from scratch with help from the whole family.

Yeah, right. My reality is different.

I have a job and I’m busy all day during the week. At the end of the workday, I put on my mom hat, go into the kitchen and rustle up some grub. (In case you’re wondering, my husband’s crazy-busy at work these days, so he does the cooking on the weekends.) If you think I’m gonna make Roast Pheasant Under Glass on a weeknight, you’ve got another think coming.

Coincidentally, last week I received an email from Ilise Benun, the Marketing Mentor, who advised that I should write a blog post for you about my favorite holiday recipe. But because my favorite recipes (holiday or not) are ones that come together quickly, I was inspired to give you something else: the gift of time. Here is a plan for a nutritious, yummy meal for 4–6 people that even your kids will like that can be on the table in about 30 minutes. As a bonus, I’ve also given you a vegan option!

After dinner, you can use all the time you’ve saved to figure out what the heck wassail is and how important it is that you make some.

Multitasking your recipes

The instructions are a mash-up of all of the recipes because you’ll be working on everything concurrently. This way it all comes together at the same time and you’re not waiting for that stupid rice to finish cooking. There’s a lot of text so it looks complicated, but it’s really not.

Video Game Burgers

This recipe was inspired by an app about a mother who loves to cook that was hugely popular with my kids some years ago.

Burgers

1 T. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1.5 lbs ground beef, turkey, pork, chicken, OR 1 28 oz. can chickpeas, 1/2 c. vital wheat gluten and 1/2 c. nutritional yeast (V)
1/2 t. basil
1/2 t. oregano
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. breadcrumbs (omit for vegan version)
1 egg (omit for vegan version)

Sauce

1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 t. salt
1/2 t. basil

Steamed Rice

White rice (use 1/4 c. uncooked rice per serving)
Water

Roasted Veg

1–2 pounds fresh green beans, broccoli, carrots, or whatever your kids will tolerate
Olive oil
Garlic powder (I love Badia Garlic and Parsley, but you can use what you have on hand)
Salt
Lemon juice (either from half of a fresh lemon, you fancy person, you, or a squeeze from the ol’ plastic lemon)

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet (at least 12″ is good) over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the onion. Stir the onions every so often while you do the next step. It’s OK if they become brown in spots, but don’t let them burn.

Wash the rice in several changes of water until the water’s no longer cloudy. Drain the rinse water, then add twice as much fresh water as you have rice. Pour this into a heavy-bottomed pot, put the pot on the stove over high heat and bring it to a boil, uncovered.

Transfer the cooked onions into a large mixing bowl then return the pan to the heat.

Your rice should be boiling by now, so turn the heat down to low, cover the pot, and set a timer for 20 minutes.

MEAT PATTIES To the bowl with the onions add the meat, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, ketchup, breadcrumbs and egg. Mix this together with your hands until everything is blended. Mold the mixture into 10 oval-shaped patties and put them in the pan as you go. If you’re using pork or chicken you might need to add a little more oil to the pan first. Fry the patties for about 5 minutes on each side. You want a nice, brown crust on them.

VEGAN PATTIES Use a potato masher to crush the chickpeas and onions together. It should be mostly mush, with some solid chickpea chunks. Add the vital wheat gluten, nutritional yeast, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and ketchup. Mix this together with your hands until everything is blended. Add a little more oil to your pan, mold the mixture into 10 oval-shaped patties and put them in the pan as you go. Fry the patties for about 5 minutes on each side. You want a nice, brown crust on them.

While the patties are frying, wash and trim the vegetables then cut them into bite-sized pieces. Put the pieces in a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides) and pour some oil on them. Roll the vegetables around in the pan to cover them uniformly with the oil. Sprinkle the garlic powder and salt on top.

By now, the patties should be browned. Skim off and discard any accumulated fat from the meat patties. If you’re cooking chickpea patties, remove the patties from the pan and keep them warm on a plate.

Preheat your broiler and move the oven rack to the top position. Open the can of crushed tomatoes, add the salt and basil to the can then stir to blend. Pour the seasoned tomato sauce into the pan. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to low.

Place the vegetables into the preheated oven and set a timer for 8 minutes. At the end of 8 minutes, check on them; they should have brown spots and be softened. If they’re not quite ready, put them back under the broiler and check them every 2 minutes. When they are done, take the vegetables out of the oven and squeeze a little lemon juice on them.

By now, the rice should have finished cooking and the meat patties should be firmed up and ready to eat. To serve, lay down a bed of rice and place a patty on top. Coat it with the sauce, then put some veg on the side.

Bask in the compliments of your grateful family.

Let me know how this worked out!

I would love to hear if you followed this recipe and how your meal turn out. Did you serve it with wassail? Were your kids so grateful to you that they fell on their knees? Leave your comments below.