My mother did not believe in thirty minute meals. She believed in ten minute meals. Actually if they had invented a “child chow” that worked on people like dog chow and rat chow work on those animals, I am quite sure we would have eaten it.

My mother either made things amazingly well (killer Coq au Vin and Boeuf Bourginonne) or in such a way that the food was ingested primarily due to a logical understanding that it was nutritious combined with extreme hunger. There was no tendency to overeat. My mother stayed very slim on her own cooking.

So this is a dinner inspired by that time but better tasting. And it can be vegan (depending on your burger buns) and it can be low in fat and in carbs if you punt the fries. Also it can be done in 15 minutes if you swap the fries for something like four-bean salad, slaw, or corn on the cob. The fries are the slowest part of the process.

Like all weeknight dinners it is fast, easy and has very little cleanup. The first time I made this dinner, my son ate it. The second time he asked me to make it again then cleaned his plate in record time. He loves the mushroom hamburgers.

And this is a no pot or pan meal. You will only have to clean two baking dishes, neither of which will require any scrubbing. As long as you don’t have OCD you can just put them directly in the dishwasher.

Ingredients
Large portabello mushroom caps (one per person)
1 bag Alexia brand organic plain frozen french fries (The plain ones have three ingredients, potatoes oil and salt…some of the others are a bit iffy for gluten-free eating) per 4 people.
Frozen broccoli (or cucumber salad)
Burger buns (one per person)
Sliced tomatoes
Lettuce for burgers
Any other burger toppings you like (we are partial to ketchup and pickles)

Equipment
Two 13 x 9 baking pans (two large pans…one can be a cookie sheet or a jelly-roll pan)
Spatula for removing fries and mushrooms
Knife and cutting board for slicing tomatoes, onions, and lettuce and for slicing open fries bag
Bowl for microwaving broccoli

Instructions
Separate the two racks in your oven so that you can cook the fries and the mushrooms each on a separate rack.
Put still frozen fries in a 13 x 9 inch pan or larger depending on the number of people you are feeding. Lay them in a single layer.
Bake at 400 degrees for at least as long as the package indicates (maybe it is my stove but I have had those fries on convect for the right amount of time and they were still not done in 20 minutes).
When the fries appear almost done, Put mushroom caps on a 13 x 9 pan, no salt, no marinade… nothing.
Bake mushrooms at 350 for about 15 minutes. They are done when they look wrinkled on top.
Remove fries and mushrooms when done
While mushrooms are baking toast buns in toaster oven and microwave broccoli in a microwave safe bowl or remove cucumber or four-bean salad from fridge.
Assemble burgers and serve

Note, the mushrooms can be chewy if they are under or overcooked. This was only an issue for my son and it was solved by cutting up the mushrooms and putting the pieces back on the bun.