Mobile Seafood

Last year Ottawa was bitten by the food truck craze. City Hall finally released a limited number of permits for some new food trucks. Having worked in the east end of Ottawa for the last couple of years I’ve only had the chance to try a couple. I’ve already posted about Relish Food Truck, Stone Soup Foodworks and Bite This if you want to read a little about some of the other trucks in Ottawa. Now that I am working downtown, I am looking forward to trying a bunch more.

I’ve already convinced some of my new colleagues to brave the weather and walk down to Ad Mare. Ad Mare is located at Slater and O’Connor, which is super convenient / dangerous for me because I work less than 5 minutes away. The day that we went it was super cold out but there was still a line, so you know the food has to be good.

Ad Mare specializes in seafood. In the past there menu has included items like crab grilled cheese sammy, shrimp po’boys, fish tacos and fish & chips. Once a week they have lobster day, which is the day we went to Ad Mare, lucky for us.

On the menu that day there was lobster mac n cheese, lobster rolls, lobster poutine, fish tacos and fish & chips. By the time we got there the lobster mac n cheese was already sold out, so I got the lobster poutine. It was delicious! The lobster poutine was hand cut chips topped with butter poached lobster, cheese curds and gravy. When I originally ordered it, I was afraid that there wasn’t going to be a lot of lobster, I was happy to get lots of lobster, claw meat and tail meat. It was super tasty. It was a little pricy compared to other poutines but I’ve never had another poutine with lobster. I will definitely be back to Ad Mare, probably more than once. If you’re in the downtown core Ad Mare is a must try. If you’re coming from outside the downtown core, pick a nice day so you can enjoy a meal outside.

You can find Ad Mare on:

Facebook – www.facebook.com/AdMareSeafood
Twitter – twitter.com/ad_mare
Web – admareseafood.com

Soup for the Community

Whenever I go to a restaurant I never think to order soup. I always want to get something that I can’t make at home, either because I don’t know where to get the ingredients or because I don’t have the skill to create the dish. After trying five soups from some of Ottawa’s top restaurants, I will be ordering soup a lot more often. This weekend was the annual Great Bowls of Fire event, hosted by the Ottawa Guild of Potters. This is the third time I’ve been to Great Bowls of Fire, 2010, 2012 and 2014. You can find my pervious posts about the event HERE and HERE.

My new bowl!

Great Bowls of Fire is a unique event here in Ottawa. For the price of your ticket, $45 this year, you get to choose a handcrafted bowl and then enjoy soup from some of Ottawa’s top restaurants. Held in the Glebe Community Centre, the atmosphere of the event is warm and inviting. Hundreds of people fill the main hall and eat family style, so you get to meet new friends and run into old friends every year. This year there were ten restaurants showcasing some of the best soup I’ve ever had. What really makes the night for me, other than the soup, is knowing that the event is raising money for the Ottawa Food Bank.

It’s great to see local restaurants supporting the community. Great Bowls of Fire is only one example of restaurants making a difference in the community. There are lots unsung heroes in the Ottawa’s culinary world. Restaurants in Ottawa are selling t-shirts to raise money for local charities, hosting their own events where proceeds go back to the community, providing food to fundraising events and are even helping teach people how to cook. If you see a restaurant at the next fundraising event you’re at, make sure to take note and think about supporting them the next time you’re going out.

I want to give a huge shout out to all the amazing restaurants that took part in this year’s Great Bowls of Fire. Thanks for the awesome soup and I can’t wait to visit your restaurant!

•  Absinthe
• town
• The Wellington Gastropub
• Stone Soup Foodworks
• The Joy of Gluten Free
• Stoneface Dolly’s
• Il Primo
• Thyme and Again
• Lazy Pickle
• SIDEDOOR

If you’re inspired to give back to the community after reading this post think about giving to the Ottawa Food Bank, you can get more information HERE. Or help me raise money for Right to Play, you can read more about my efforts HERE.

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

We have been eating a lot more salad. Instead of potatoes or rice, we load our plates or bowls with leafy greens and veggies. Not being a huge fan of iceberg lettuce, which doesn’t have much nutritional value, we use a premade mix of greens from Farmboy. I am not too sure what’s in the mix but it tastes great. Eating a salad with your meal is a great way to feel full without adding too many extra calories. However it’s pretty easy to ruin a healthy salad, all you have to do is drown it in store bought dressing. One serving of store bought, 2 tablespoons, has between 100 and 200 calories. That’s a lot. One way I sometime try and get away from these extra calories is by making my own dressing. One of my favourite dressing recipes is for Caesar Salad. I tend to use this dressing on every salad I make and the recipe below makes enough for a few days. I found this recipe online at theblackpeppercorn.com. Give the recipe below a try and let me know what you think.

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing 

Ingredients

• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup fresh grated parmigiano reggiano
• 1½ anchovy paste (I didn’t have this and it was still really good)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

 Directions

1. In a glass bowl whisk together all the ingredients except the olive oil, until smooth and creamy. I am too lazy/weak to whisk everything together, so I used my immersion blender in a tall plastic container.
2. Slowly drizzle the olive oil, while whisking or blending. Add the olive oil slowly to allow it to emulsify.
3. You can store the dressing in the fridge for up to a week.
4. Use on your favourite salad and enjoy!