As for meatballs-- I have made so many different recipes for vegan meatballs. I have tried to make them with every different kind of bean, and every variety of cooking. Steaming, deep-frying, baking, pan-frying, toasting, boiling, roasting, even microwaving. I have tried lots of printed recipes, and only a few stand out in my mind as ones worth making: The Tempeh Meatballs from Super Fun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook, (or all the other times it is printed in Isa's books-- I think it's in Isa Does It and Appetite For Reduction). I have had success baking this recipe as well as pan-frying. But my #1 has got to be the meatballs from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen. They are mushroom and brown rice-based and they are the BEST vegan meatballs I have tried. I do love me some Gardein meatballs in a pinch, but when you want to make a special Sunday dinner to impress the fam, this is your meatball. It's a little labor-intensive what with boiling and cooling rice first, then cooking onions and mushrooms to puree with the rice, forming them into balls and then pan-frying them all lovingly and tenderly until they've been turned just enough times to make a perfect round and golden meatball. But trust me, I would never tell you to go through all the trouble if it weren't worth it, and I'm telling you, I've met my meatball. This is the meatball I want to be with forever. And ever.