Eating to Live on the Outside: The Natural Café
First off, big kudos to Michael for emailing me this week’s restaurant—thanks Michael! Today we’re grabbing a bite to eat at The Natural Café. Now, I’ve got to say, having just given it a quick scan. It looks good. So no long preamble today—let’s dig in!
Alright, I’m going to try and keep this evaluation as close to 100% Fuhrman-friendly as possible. With that being said, the appetizer I’m going with is the Vegetarian Chili; which includes cheese, onions, and corn bread. Once you ditch the cheese and corn bread it looks mighty good. The soups are another option, provided they’re not to salty, have lots of veggies, and you skip out on the 7-grain bread.
Next up are the salads and you’ve got plenty of options. Here are my favorites. The Botanical Garden Salad is great; made with baby-leaf lettuce, carrots, red onions, jicama, tomato, and sprouts. The Spiritual Spinach Salad also looks very tasty; prepared with spinach, carrots, olives, artichoke hearts, feta cheese, veggie-bacon bits, and sprouts. I’m ditching the cheese, olives, and the veggie-bacon. And lastly, I like the East Beach Salad; it comes with grilled veggies, baby-leaf greens, carrots, tomato, and jicama. I’m a sucker for grilled veggies on salad! Now you know what I’m going to say next, “Of course I’d go easy on the salad dressing.”
In the face of all these great veggie options, I doubt I’d be inclined to order a sandwich, but, what the heck! Let’s take a look at a couple. For obvious reasons I like the Grilled Veggie Sandwich; its made with grilled veggies, lettuce, sprouts, tomato, garlic mayonnaise, and served on 7-grain bread. Now, the bread is the concession and the mayo is out the window, but like I said, I’m a sucker for grilled vegetables. The other sandwich I’m digging is the Portobella Mushroom; prepared with a marinated grilled portobello mushroom, jack cheese, grilled onions, tomato, sprouts, pesto, garlic mayo, and served on 7-grain bread. Again, the bread is the concession and I’m totally ditching the cheese and the mayo.
Moving on to the Vegetarian Entrees and there’s lots of good stuff here too. I really like the Buddha Burrito; it’s prepared with sauteed veggies, pinto beans, rice, ranchero sauce, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and wrapped in a whole wheat chapati with a salad garnish. Okay, I’m sacking the cheese and sour cream. Hopefully there’s not too much oil being used in the sautéing process—that would suck! And the chapatti is a concession I can live with. Hey, the salad’s cool! The Natural Tamale is also pretty neat; it’s made with corn, green chiles, pinto beans, ground peanut, and garlic wrapped in a corn masa topped with ranchero sauce and sour cream and served with rice and black beans. Goodbye sour cream! Other than the masa concession, it looks good.
And finally, if all else fails. You can give this time-tested strategy a whirl. Make yourself a tasty meal out of the sides. Let’s see what we got. Well, I could certainly go for some steamed veggies, a baked potato, avocado, and some pinto beans. Not sure those around me would appreciate the pinto. Eh, it’s a risk I’m willing to take! I’m a real sucker for steamed veggies too. Especially steamed broccoli, I’m sure most of you would agree. Steamed broccoli is surprising addicting!
Thanks again to Michael for giving me a heads-up about The Natural Café. An Eat to Liver could certainly find refuge here. Sure, you’ve got some cheese and bread to dodge, but in a frontier packed with standard American restaurants a little cheese and bread should be the least of your worries. Now, it’s your turn! Check out The Natural Café’s menu and let me know how you handle Eating to Live on the Outside. Make a comment or send an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com. Until next time, eat well!
Alright, I’m going to try and keep this evaluation as close to 100% Fuhrman-friendly as possible. With that being said, the appetizer I’m going with is the Vegetarian Chili; which includes cheese, onions, and corn bread. Once you ditch the cheese and corn bread it looks mighty good. The soups are another option, provided they’re not to salty, have lots of veggies, and you skip out on the 7-grain bread.
Next up are the salads and you’ve got plenty of options. Here are my favorites. The Botanical Garden Salad is great; made with baby-leaf lettuce, carrots, red onions, jicama, tomato, and sprouts. The Spiritual Spinach Salad also looks very tasty; prepared with spinach, carrots, olives, artichoke hearts, feta cheese, veggie-bacon bits, and sprouts. I’m ditching the cheese, olives, and the veggie-bacon. And lastly, I like the East Beach Salad; it comes with grilled veggies, baby-leaf greens, carrots, tomato, and jicama. I’m a sucker for grilled veggies on salad! Now you know what I’m going to say next, “Of course I’d go easy on the salad dressing.”
In the face of all these great veggie options, I doubt I’d be inclined to order a sandwich, but, what the heck! Let’s take a look at a couple. For obvious reasons I like the Grilled Veggie Sandwich; its made with grilled veggies, lettuce, sprouts, tomato, garlic mayonnaise, and served on 7-grain bread. Now, the bread is the concession and the mayo is out the window, but like I said, I’m a sucker for grilled vegetables. The other sandwich I’m digging is the Portobella Mushroom; prepared with a marinated grilled portobello mushroom, jack cheese, grilled onions, tomato, sprouts, pesto, garlic mayo, and served on 7-grain bread. Again, the bread is the concession and I’m totally ditching the cheese and the mayo.
Moving on to the Vegetarian Entrees and there’s lots of good stuff here too. I really like the Buddha Burrito; it’s prepared with sauteed veggies, pinto beans, rice, ranchero sauce, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and wrapped in a whole wheat chapati with a salad garnish. Okay, I’m sacking the cheese and sour cream. Hopefully there’s not too much oil being used in the sautéing process—that would suck! And the chapatti is a concession I can live with. Hey, the salad’s cool! The Natural Tamale is also pretty neat; it’s made with corn, green chiles, pinto beans, ground peanut, and garlic wrapped in a corn masa topped with ranchero sauce and sour cream and served with rice and black beans. Goodbye sour cream! Other than the masa concession, it looks good.
And finally, if all else fails. You can give this time-tested strategy a whirl. Make yourself a tasty meal out of the sides. Let’s see what we got. Well, I could certainly go for some steamed veggies, a baked potato, avocado, and some pinto beans. Not sure those around me would appreciate the pinto. Eh, it’s a risk I’m willing to take! I’m a real sucker for steamed veggies too. Especially steamed broccoli, I’m sure most of you would agree. Steamed broccoli is surprising addicting!
Thanks again to Michael for giving me a heads-up about The Natural Café. An Eat to Liver could certainly find refuge here. Sure, you’ve got some cheese and bread to dodge, but in a frontier packed with standard American restaurants a little cheese and bread should be the least of your worries. Now, it’s your turn! Check out The Natural Café’s menu and let me know how you handle Eating to Live on the Outside. Make a comment or send an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com. Until next time, eat well!
