Former Little Rock resident Rocquelle Devine seems to be on her way to becoming the next Rachael Ray … or perhaps even the next Martha Stewart.

The wife, mother, event planner, purveyor of inspirational messages, home cook and cooking instructor talks about all things “family, food, fashion and fun” on her website, Supermomdecoded.com.

Right now, food is at the forefront for Devine, whose cookbook, Fast & Fabulous Family Meals: Getting You Out of the Drive-Thru and Into the Kitchen, was released Sept. 12. The book is $15 at Pyramid Art Books & Custom Framing in Little Rock as well as at Devine’s website.

The spiral-bound book is light, thin and flexible enough to navigate in the kitchen while whipping up Terrific Taco Dip, with a preparation time of 20 minutes and cook time of 25 minutes; Black Bean Chili, with its 15-minute preparation period and 40-minute cook time; Preppy Pesto Chicken, which takes five minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook; Devinely Fried Green Tomatoes, which takes 17 minutes in all; and Millionaire Mini-Frittatas, with a total prep-cook time of 40 minutes.

Devine fashioned her cookbook to fit modern-day lifestyles. “A lot of people are not going to be in the kitchen for … a couple of hours” preparing a meal, she says. Even she is intimidated by “recipes that have a ton of ingredients,” Devine adds. “That’s Saturday cooking.”

Another standard Devine used for the recipes: simple ingredients that would already be on hand, or easily found in the supermarket.

Having left Little Rock seven years ago, Devine, 40, now lives in La Plata, Md., 40 minutes south of Washington.

The cookbook, she says, was actually the result of the request of many of her friends, especially on social media, for such a book.

Devine worked on the book for a year. One of the elements that added some time to the project: transforming her informal ingredient measures into exact ones.

“I’m not a technical person and I like to get in the kitchen and I kind of feel out what my food needs and what I want to put in it,” Devine says. “But you can’t do that for other people; they need to know it’s two thirds a cup of milk. … That was the challenging part.”

The finished product has proved worth such challenges,creating a buzz among Devine’s friends and family. To promote the book, she has been holding cooking classes in conjunction with book signings. She held a class in Little Rock on Sept. 14, a day after her book signing at Pyramid Art Books & Custom Framing.

Devine’s cooking classes predated the book.

“I was just sitting trying to think of some things I wanted to do,” she says. The positive responses she was getting from her cooking posts came to mind, and she began to wonder: Would people want to come to a cooking event? “Today’s woman, especially on the East Coast … doesn’t see a lot of people talking about cooking,” Devine says. But she put feelers out there, asking: “If I had a class teaching these recipes, would you come?”

“And I got a great response,” she says. She feels God gave her the format for her cooking parties, which include fellowship, games, gifts and eating. Devine charges $50-$70 per student per class.

“I started doing those and they were a great hit,” she says. “So many women were really needing to have some fun adult time. … They needed some girlfriend time out,” away from spouses and children. “It’s kind of like an adult play date.”

Devine has even gotten a bit of a nod from celebrity chef and Food Network show host Rachael Ray. Contestants post food photos on Instagram for a chance to be chosen as “Whatcha Cookin’ Wednesday Featured Cook of the Week” on rachaelraymag.com, the website for Ray’s magazine. Winners appear on the magazine blog and have a chance to be featured in a future issue. Devine earned a Featured Cook title for her fish tacos.

For their help with the book and the classes, Devine credits her husband, jazz saxophonist Merlon Devine, and their teenage children, True, Fahrelle and Merlon II, whom she refers toas “my official recipe testers - especially my son. He is Recipe Tester No. 1 because he’ll pretty much try anything.” She credits her children for being “brutally honest with me.” If they don’t like something “they tell me the truth.”

If all goes well, the family will be helping to usher Devine into bigger and better enterprises.

“I would eventually like to have my own televised cooking show … that’s what I really want,” as well as to be on a cooking competition and, of course, to write more theme cookbooks, she says. For the time being, she plans to expand her Supermomdecoded channel at Youtube.com and promote her cookbook there.

The following recipes were featured in Devine’s Little Rock cooking class.

Sweet and Spicy Salmon

5 teaspoons vegetable oil

5 salmon filets, about 6 ounces each

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

½ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

½ teaspoon dried parsley

Heat broiler.

Rub an even coat of oil on the top side of all salmon pieces.

In a small bowl, combine the Old Bay seasoning, brown sugar, cayenne and parsley.

Sprinkle spice mixture generously over salmon, top side only. Place filets on a broiling pan or on a foil lined baking sheet. Place the pan on the center oven rack and broil on high until filet reaches your preferred level of doneness (start checking for doneness at approximately 8 minutes; cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of filet and temperature of broiler).

Makes 5 servings.

Red Pepper Quinoa

1 small onion, finely diced

½ red bell pepper, finely diced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided use

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups vegetable broth

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

In a small skillet, saute the onion and red bell pepper in 1 tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil until vegetables are tender; set aside.

Place the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat and add quinoa. Stir occasionally, browning the quinoa for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in broth and bring to a high boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in sauteed onions and bell pepper, then add the basil.

Makes 6 servings.

Roasted Asparagus

25 asparagus spears, rinsed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut off about ¼ inch of the bottom of asparagus spears to remove tough ends (the ends should appear a vibrant green color once cut). Arrange asparagus in a single layer in a 9-by-13-inch baking sheet, making sure not to overlap.

Coat evenly with the olive oil.

Add salt, pepper, and lemon pepper seasoning. Place in oven for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn spears and continue roasting for another 4 to 5 minutes, or until tips of spears are slightly limp.

Makes 5 servings.

Food, Pages 31 on 10/30/2013