Potato gratin with goat cheese
If you are doing things at the last minute, your best bet is to avoid meat. This makes things a bit easier of you are looking for a good last-minute Christmas lunch recipe. The potato is essentially the skeleton key to the stomach – any way you prepare it, it is likely to be accepted, especially if you pair it with goats cheese. Simply roast some potatoes in the oven with oil, rosemary, salt and pepper then crumble cheese all over it and broil until everything is golden brown. Sounds easy right? That’s because it is. Watch these babies get gobbled up quick-smart once the feast begins.
Image: Bon Appetit

Whole roasted cauliflower
Again, you can go the vegetable option and still contribute something filling and scrumptious. Cooking a roast well takes time, as does a properly glazed ham so perhaps those choices are best left to someone else. You can get in on the roast action though with this whole roasted cauliflower. This super-easy recipe is a great alternative to the meaty morsels that will most likely take up the majority of table space, but is just as tasty.
Image: Jamie Oliver

Spinach and gruyere souffle
Before you scoff at the idea of a souffle being easy, let me assure you that this one isn’t meant to be perfect. In fact, the more rustic looking it is, the better. Stir some egg yolks and spinach with some cheese sauce and you’ve already created your base. Add egg whites and bam! You got yourself a super souffle. This one should take roughly an hour to prepare and cook and serves a large number of people, meaning that you’ll look like the most considerate cook on Christmas.
Image: Martha Stewart

Kale salad with bacon and blue cheese
Perhaps the Christmas salad is a cop-out option in the eyes of some, but we stand by our leafy combinations as the dish most capable of surprises. Take this kale salad for example – it seems like these days the ‘k word’ brings shudders of disgust out of many carnivores, but you can change their minds instantly when you pair it with bacon and blue cheese. The process is extremely easy – simply cook up some bacon, chop up your ingredients and mix them. That’s all! This salad is a winner, no matter what the barbecue lovers say.
Image: Gimme Some Oven

Three-ingredient dark chocolate and peppermint bark
For those of us that are woefully unprepared at Christmas, there’s no sweeter phrase than ‘three-ingredient recipe’. If you are stuck with bringing the dessert at Christmas, wow your family and friends with this festive dark chocolate peppermint bark. All you need is a chunk of dark chocolate, some peppermint extract and a handful of candy canes to crush and sprinkle on top. If you left this out for Santa when he visited then you’d be guaranteed to have your name on the nice list from now on.
Image: Epicurious