Veggie Guy: Roy's Natural Market

​After a rough Saturday night--I'll spare you the details, but I will say this: there was much vodka involved--Sunday's hangover carried into Monday.

Tuesday--still not human. So I got online to Tweet about my misery. Then I saw a Tweet from one of my raw food friends that read, "Alcohol acts as a depressant on your brain. Your senses dull, and your perceptions become distorted." Another followed. "You can't process information as quickly. You think that the world is moving slower than it really is." Clearly, those Tweets were for me. I followed the advice of my rawist friends and headed to the café at Roy's Natural Market for my hangover remedy.

The raw food menu at Roy's offers several items suitable for vegans (and most raw foodists).

​Organic juices and smoothies are made fresh from apples, grapefruit, oranges, celery, cucumber, mixed greens, and parsley. Shots of wheat grass are also available. Items to munch on include the Perfect Pasta: sliced zucchini served with a raw marinara sauce of tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, dates, garlic, basil, and other herbs. Vegetable Teriyaki is a mix of mushrooms, broccoli, red bell peppers, celery, onion, carrots, tamari sauce, sesame oil, agave nectar, lemon juice, garlic, and ginger. The Veggie Wrap is a large romaine lettuce leaf filled with tomatoes, avocado, sprouts, onion, cucumber, and carrots. Tomato Bisque is made with puréed tomatoes, olive oil, onion, garlic, oregano, rosemary, almonds, sea salt, and black pepper.

The café also has a small salad bar with your basic greens and fixin's, and offers two raw vegan dressings (Raw Nut and Raw Ranch). Pre-made salads include Raw Edamame and Veggie Salad, Raw Pineapple Salad, Raw Apple Relish, and Light Summer Cole Slaw, served with a raw mayo of cashews, lemon juice, dates, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and extra virgin olive oil. And you can get raw desserts at Roy's, too.

Just Banana Ice Cream is the pulp of a frozen banana that has been run through a high-tech juicer. Raw Apple Pie is made with apples, dates, raisins, cinnamon, and psyllium husk powder in a crust of almonds, dates, vanilla, cinnamon, and topped with a cream of cashews, dates, and lemon juice. The Raw Chocolate Torte uses the same crust, and is filled with a purée of pecans, dates, cacao powder, vanilla, coconut oil, agave nectar, and sea salt.

With so much to choose from, I decided to get small portions of several items: Vegetable Teriyaki, Edamame and Veggie Salad, Raw Pineapple Salad, a cup of the bisque, and a bottle of kombucha (a live, fermented tea). And I couldn't leave without dessert, so I got a slice of the Raw Chocolate Torte as well. My entire meal was only $14.03.

And my hangover did eventually go away...but only after I got home and ate some cookies.

Roy's Natural Market
6025 Royal Lane
214-987-0213