Cajun Beanballs over Angel Hair Pasta

I finally got my copy of Appetite for Reduction.  After reading the entire thing, I'm even more excited to start cooking from it.  This book reminds me so much of Vegan with a Vengeance.  The recipes aren't complicated and everything requires mostly whole foods that are easy to find no matter where you might live.  I have a feeling that I'll end up making just about everything in this one just like I did with VwaV.  

I think my favorite thing about Appetite for Reduction is that Isa made not only awesome recipes, but recipes that I can easily put together after work without planning to eat dinner at 10pm.  That rules.  I like good food that comes together quickly.  So yay for a healthy selection of quick to prepare stuff.

The first thing I made was the Cajun Beanballs.  I love the beanballs from Veganomicon so much that they've gone into my regular rotation.  I have some recipes that I make once a year or so and some that I make much more often.  Beanballs have my heart.  I've actually been craving them lately, too so it was an easy decision to try the black bean and tempeh cajun beanballs from this this cookbook.

These beanballs are baked instead of pan-fried, which right there puts a huge load of good for you into them.  I love tempeh and any excuse to find new ways to prepare it is a win for me.  They're so tasty and they hold together no problem.  James says these are his new favorite beanball.  He likes the other ones, too, but apparently these hit it out of the park.

I also really love the idea of dumping the zucchini into the boiling pasta to cook those two things together.  A great idea and it saves from having to wash an extra pot.  As a bonus, when you dump the pasta and zucchini into the colander, it all gets mixed together pretty evenly which is kind of cool.  I had never considered combining steps like that before, but I love it!  I also love the addition of veggies to what is usually just pasta, sauce and beanballs.  Don't get me wrong, that's still awesome, but this is a great way to integrate some extra veggies. 

So far I say way to go, Isa!  I can't wait to make some more awesome stuff from this cookbook. 


I apologize for the crappy photo, by the way.  I took it with my phone and didn't do any color correcting.