How quickly can you make a Jamie Oliver 15 minute meal?!

My husband got me Jamie Oliver's "15 minute meals" book as a present for when I arrived in the UK. I was psyched!!! Now that I've gone through 3-4 of his recipes, I think my best time was an hour! I'm fairly sure he's cheating and/or has super human powers ....that and a food processor (trying to inhibit the urge to purchase too many space consuming kitchen appliances). Any other Jamie fans out there? What's your best 15 minute meal "time". Thought this captures the essence of Jamie's 15 minute meals pretty well:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9602647/Oliver-Pritchett-Jamie-Olivers-15-Minute-Meals-are-bad-for-your-health.html

I thought his 30 minute meals (book and series to go with it) was really pushing it -- a lot.  The 15 minute thing is just ridiculous. 

I do like Jamie Oliver though.

Does Jamie clean up? Because when he is done with all those little bowls and knives and devices and such he just puts them aside and they disappear.

My husband and I got 15 minutes meals for Christmas.  We try to make a new recipe every 2 weeks or so from it.  We don't have a food processor so have to chop by hand and with both of us cooking, it takes us about 25-30 minutes.

I always presumed the 15 minutes did not include prep time. Not all of us are equipped with professional knife skills, or knives, for that matter! It takes me ages to chop and zest.

I always presumed the 15 minutes did not include prep time.

Nope, I don't think so.  The 30 minute meals included prep time.

Does Jamie clean up? Because when he is done with all those little bowls and knives and devices and such he just puts them aside and they disappear.

Yea funny how that works. Like magic. On his show it is amusing to see the pile of dishes grow in the background as he churns through bowls and gadgets....easily a 30 minute clean up job, but that doesn't count.

Not tried anything Jamie Oliver (and I recongise that what I am about to say isn't really in the 'spirit' of the thread)  but I can cook a suprising number of things in 15 minutes. 

That said, to make some of the stuff I have to be organised and do all my chopping and prep work ahead of time when I have a bit of free time.   Stuff like chopped carrots, celery, peppers, onions, lettuce, greens, prepped brussels sprouts, cababge, leeks, etc will all last a few days in the fridge and make life super easy.  Frozen and tinned veg, beans, etc are also really handy.  Sometimes a packet of pre-cut stir fry veg or soup veg or salad greens can also make life easy. More expensive, but if you get home at 18:15 and need to leave by 18:45 to get to band practice and you're starving, its worth it.  Pasta cooks in 8-12 minutes, rice and egg noodles take even less time,  basmati rice cooks in 10-12 minutes, eggs cook really quickly, small-fresh potatoes will boil in 15 minutes or so, or you can pre-boil potatoes and reheat-pan fry....       

Rachel Ray always advocated pre-prep work on her '30 minute meals' -and I can vouch that it can make a massive difference.

I am sure I wouldn't be able to do a Jamie 15 minute meal without prep work - I would most likely chop my finger off instead....   

Pb, it's definitely in the spirit of the thread!  I sometimes prep veggies ahead of time, but find that the way I cook it takes a lot longer for veggies to soften up.  But it's definitely a time saver to prep ahead!