If you’re like me, chances are it’s 15 minutes until dinner and you are scouring the Internet hoping to find inspiration. And like me, your probably getting distracted with things like Pinterest, Twitter, and three little children who are on the verge of a complete and total breakdown caused by hanger (pronounced: hane-ger – It’s what happens when you mix hunger with anger and it’s a common occurrence around here, although not just relegated to the children).

Stop your surfing and cook with me, dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.

First things first. You’ll need spaghetti, peanut butter (or sesame paste – Tahini – if you have it), soy sauce, rice wine (or a dry white will do), rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, and shallot if you have it.

Put a large pot of water over the stove and crank up the heat. Make the water taste of the sea. Seriously, taste it.

While the water is working on a boil add 4 cloves of garlic and a bit of shallot to a food processor. Pulse until well chopped. To this add 3 tbl peanut butter (or Tahini), ⅓ cup soy sauce, 2 tbl rice wine, 1 ½ tbl rice wine vinegar, and 1 ½ tbl sesame oil. Blend this all together.

As soon as your water is boiling add enough spaghetti to feed four.

Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain then stir in the sauce.

Dinner is ready.

If you have carrots, use a vegetable peeler to create fancy carrot ribbons. I tossed my ribbons with a splash or rice wine vinegar and toasted sesame seeds. I also happened to have a few sad looking scallions so I added those as well. Bean sprouts would also be a nice addition as would steamed or roasted broccoli or napa cabbage perhaps. So many choices.

Fifteen minutes and we’ve created a dinner that is sweet, salty with a bit of a bright bite. Serve the kids first then top your portion with a touch of Sriracha(or your favorite hot sauce).

While there is little I love more than to spend hours on one meal, taking care to plan through every detail. Setting the table to a multi-coursed meal that concludes with something sweet and most likely chocolatey. The truth is more often than not dinner goes from in my head to on the table in under thirty minutes. But that doesn’t mean our dinners have to suffer from my lack of planning. We eat well, if just happens quickly.

Quick Garlicky Pasta

inspired by Nigel Slater, Real Fast Food

3 Tbl peanut butter (or Tahini)

⅓ cup soy sauce

2 Tbl rice wine (or dry white wine)

1 Tbl rice wine vinegar

1 ½ Tbl Sesame oil

4 garlic cloves

1 Tbl chopped shallot

Combine the garlic and shallot in the bowl of a food processor. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then stir in the remaining ingredients. Process until well blended.

Toss this sauce with enough pasta for four.

Top with sesame seeds, carrot, bean sprouts, or whatever strikes your fancy.

My preference is for pie in the morning. A deep dish loaded with seasonal fruit lightly sweetened with sugar wrapped in a buttery crust – a perfectly balanced meal I’d say.

I often wake up with the first thought of the morning leaning towards pastries. At home scones are practically a sixth member of the family. Softly sweet, tender and flaky. Warm with a bit of jam running down it’s sugary top.

If I’m not quite awake and ready to cut in cold butter with flour than I simply walk around the corner to our neighborhood bakery and choose from an assortment of fresh baked goods.

With the lines happily blurred between breakfast and dessert in my mind it’s no wonder why I was so drawn to this breakfasty version of Creme Brulee.

Tangy and thick Greek yogurt is given the brulee treatment with a light dusting of sugar.

Let’s start from the beginning. The idea came from Nigel Slater, as many of my latest inspirations have. His book, Real Fast Food, is one of few books that I cook from again and again. Many pages are stuck together, glued shut from random cooking splatterings. Many pages are marked with recipes and ideas to try and I’ve had the book for not quite three weeks.  In this small photo-less book there are over 350 recipes – all of them simple, using few ingredients with most of which you probably have on hand. Some are mere guidelines as is the case of the one we are discussing currently.

If you are using the broiler, stick the dish of sugared yogurt directly under the preheated broiler for about 2-3 minutes, or until the sugar caramelizes into a golden crust.

Top your breakfast brulee with more fresh berries. Now, of course this could also double as an elegant dessert. Simple, subtly sweet yet fancy and sophisticated as things are when they have a French name associated with them.

*For those who have asked (Hi, Crystal!) This is the torch I use.

Yogurt Brulee

Nigel says to use a small ramekin or a shallow dish that may be the perfect home for a quiche on another morning. In the bottom of your dish place a handful of berries. I happened to have raspberries, Nigel had blackberries. In an act of defiance I covered my berries with a few passes of honey. On top of the berries there is yogurt. Level the top with a fine coat of sugar. Torch or broil to get a caramel, crisp cap. From my formal brulee training we would coat the custard with three fine layers of sugar torching in between each passing. The result was a deeply caramelized, sturdy and dense sweet layer that shattered with a mighty plunge of the spoon. So that's what I did.