Recipe Time

The challenge: You haven't been grocery shopping in days. You planned to go this morning, but it's lunch time already and you haven't gotten out of the house yet. You have a guest, so you can't just serve up any old thing for lunch, but you're both starving. What do you do?

The solution: Water, cappelini or angel hair pasta, olive oil, canned sliced tomatoes, garlic and basil (if the tomatoes aren't the pre-seasoned "Italian" kind), a pot and a pan. Put the water on to boil. Put the olive oil, tomatoes, and spices in the pan to heat, stirring occasionally. When the water boils, put the pasta in and cook for about a minute and a half. Drain the pasta and put it in the pan with the sauce for about another minute, and serve immediately. Put some parmesan cheese on top if you have it.

Time: Approximately 15 minutes, or less depending on how fast your water boils. It's healthy, easy, satisfying, tasty, and fast. It uses stuff you probably always have around (or should, anyway). Now aren't you glad you didn't decide to go out for pizza because cooking was too much trouble?