Ann Gentry, the owner of The Real Food Daily restaurants in Los Angeles has created a cult-like following with her organic, ethnic-inspired, vegetarian cuisine.
Although Ann Gentry, the owner and executive chef of The Real Food Daily restaurants in Los Angeles has been a vegetarian for more than twenty years, she grew up on the standard American diet. In college, she was inspired to eat less meat and more natural foods due to her increased interest in living a more balanced life and her desire to find health and healing through her diet.
The Real Food Daily started as a home delivery service managed, run, and created by Gentry. She soon discovered that Los Angelenos were interested in creative vegetarian cuisine and that they weren’t finding it elsewhere in the city. With the same principles in mind as well as with a strong following, Gentry opened her restaurant in 1993, marrying her signature vegetarian dishes with Asian condiments and macrobiotic principles.
While her first restaurant is exclusively vegan, the second Real Food Daily is a bit more relaxed. Says Gentry, “When we moved into the new restaurant I stepped out of the realm of my strictness and began to offer carob, coffee, and organic wine and beer.” These additions enabled Gentry to cater to the vegetarian crowd who wanted a nice, healthy meal that still included a glass of wine or beer.
Gentry’s cuisine is far from bland. Any preconceived notion that vegetarian and vegan cuisine is limited or bland is quickly forgotten after one bite of such flavorful dishes as her club sandwich, made with seitan, tempeh bacon, and veganaise.
While a strictly vegan diet is not for the faint of heart, infusing your everyday meals with the natural principles found in Gentry’s cooking is sure to soothe your belly and your soul. Here Gentry has created a light summer meal, utilizing the fresh flavors of the season.
Recipes are reprinted with permission from The Real Food Daily Cookbook by Ann Gentry. by Ann Gentry. Copyright 2005. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA. Photographer: Jessica Boone.
Grilled polenta and vegetable stacks with tomato- saffron coulis
Serves 6Grilled polenta, portobello mushrooms, eggplant, and red onions are stacked with a creamy tofu cheese to make this impressive summertime entree. Select an eggplant about four inches in diameter so the slices stack up nicely with the mushrooms and polenta. Serve with roasted vegetables.
Polenta Ingredients
3 cups water
3 cups plain soymilk
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. sea salt
pinch of ground whitepepper
2 cups polenta (coarse cornmeal) or yellow cornmeal
6 (1/2-inch-thick) slices eggplant
2 red onions, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick rings
6 (4-inch-diamcter) portobello mushrooms, stemmed
1 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette
Sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
1 1/4 cups Tofu Ricotta Cheese (purchased at natural foods store)
3 cups Tomato-Saffron Coulis (recipe follows), warmed
Preparation
To make the polenta: Combine the water, soymilk, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Gradually add the polenta, whisking until boiling and smooth. Decrease the heat to low and cook, whisking often, until the mixture is very thick, about 25 minutes (15 minutes for yellow cornmeal). Spread the hot polenta over a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish and cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 1 day. Using a 3 1/2-inch-diameter cookie culler, cut out 6 rounds of polenta. Reserve any remaining polenta for another use.
To grill the vegetables and polenta: Place the eggplant, onions, and mushrooms on a heavy, rimmed baking sheet. Generously coat with the vinaigrette and arrange them on the baking sheet with the mushrooms gill side up. Cover and marinate at least 1 hour at room temperature and up to 1 day in the refrigerator.
Prepare a medium-hot fire on the grill or preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drain any excess marinade from the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill, turning often, until tender, 8 minutes for the onions and 12 minutes for the mushrooms and eggplant. Grill the polenta until heated through, 5 minutes per side.
To assemble the stacks: Place 1 grilled polenta round in the center of each plate. Spoon 1 tablespoon of cheese over each polenta round and top with an eggplant slice. Spoon another tablespoon of cheese over the eggplant and top with the onions. Spoon 1 more generous tablespoon of cheese over each and top each with a mushroom, gill side down. Spoon the coulis around the stack and serve.
Tomato – saffron coulis
Makes 4 cupsThe slow cooking time allows the flavors in this sophisticated sauce to marry. You want to simmer not boil, the sauce so that it reduces just slightly.
Ingredients
2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (I5-ounce) can whole tomatoes
8 ounces plum tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 tbs. maple syrup
1 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. crumbled saffron
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 cup water
Preparation
Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and fennel and saute for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes, or until tender. Drain the canned tomatoes and stir them in, along with the plum tomatoes, maple syrup, salt, black pepper, saffron, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, stir in the water, and return to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, or until the liquid reduces slightly and the vegetables are very tender.
Cool slightly, then use a handheld immersion blender or a regular blender to puree until smooth. Season to taste with more salt and black pepper, if desired.
Strawberry Kanten
Serves 6I call kanten a healthy person’s Jell-O. As you might imagine, kids love this refreshing dessert. The only added sweetener is apple juice, so be sure to select strawberries that are sweet, fresh, and at their peak. You can deepen the berry flavor by using an all-natural apple-berry juice. And try substituting blackberries or raspberries for the strawberries.
Ingredients
4 1/4 cups apple juice
1 tbs. arrowroot (see note)
1/4 cup agar flakes
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups fresh strawberries (about 12 ounces), quartered
Preparation
Stir 1/4 cup of the juice and arrowroot in a small bowl to blend; set aside. Combine the agar and salt with the remaining 4 cups juice in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring frequently for 15 minutes, or until the agar dissolves. Whisk in the arrowroot mixture. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Transfer the kanten to a large bowl and allow to cool at room temperature. When just beginning to set, gently stir in the strawberries. Spoon the kanten into dessert bowls, cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set. The kanten will keep for 2 days, covered and refrigerated.
** Always dissolve arrowroot in a cool liquid, such as water or fruit juice, before you add it to a recipe. It’s also important to continue stirring the mixture “slowly, not vigorously “after you add the dissolved arrowroot. A few seconds after the mixture reaches a boil, it’s cooked to capacity. In fact, arrowroot thins if cooked too long or stirred too much.
With her love of health and writing, Melissa has written for such publications as Shape, Natural Solutions, Yoga Journal, Self and Pilates Style, and has created recipes and food-oriented stories for such publications as Delicious Living and Cooking Light.
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