I’ve been saying that I’m going to go vegetarian for a long time now, but I think Summer ’17 is time to finally commit, but like in baby steps. Eating habits are hard to break and I think the thing with most people is that they’re used to eating without really thinking about what they’re putting into their bodies. Also, we humans are creatures of habit and once we’ve grown accustomed to eating certain types of food, switching up our diet is not necessarily an easy thing to do. I’ve tried to go vegetarian before and I lasted approximately six months before I fell off the wagon. I figure I gave up because I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just thought that vegetarianism = no meat, so cut out all the meat and you’re good. Since then, I’ve done a little research here and there and I’ve realized that going vegetarian isn’t actually as hard as it may seem, it’s just a matter of knowing what types of food to buy and what to cook for yourself. Like I said, baby steps this time. Instead of going cold turkey on meat, I’ll try to gradually cut it out of my diet. For those of you, who like me have flirted with the idea of going vegetarian but can’t seem to bring yourself to let go of bacon, this article is for you! There are plenty of vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Ottawa that you can check out to get a feel for the kind of food you’ll be incorporating into your diet, so check ’em out.
1. Pure Kitchen
Location: 340 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON and 357 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON
First item on the list is Pure Kitchen because everytime veganism/vegetarianism comes up in a conversation, friends always recommend this place! Pure Kitchen isn’t just a restauraunt. They offer everything from food to juice cleanse packages. If you’re interested in doing a juice cleanse, Pure Kitchen makes it easy for you to get started. You can buy one of the three packages they offer and you can pick up your purchase anytime Sundays-Thursdays. If this has picqued your interest, find more information here. If juice cleanses aren’t really your thing and you just want to try some tasty food, the menu itself is affordable and looks super delicious so you check it out here.
Location: 198 Main Street, Ottawa, ON
Fun fact about The Greend Door: all the dishes on the menu are made from organic ingredients that were locally grown and produced. Whenever you eat here, you’re not only doing yourself a favour by putting healthy organic nutrients into your body, you’re also supporting local farmers. On top of that, in their efforts to reduce waste, clientele pay-by-weight and staff buy all their ingredients by bulk. Check out the menu here.
Location: 381 Cooper Street, Ottawa, ON
The cool thing about Rawlicious is that aside from the yummy food, they offer cleanse packages so if you’ve got a little disposable income on the side, you can buy one to see if you really want to commit to a vegetarian/vegan diet. For students, the five-day Raw Food Cleanse is definetly the better option as it’s waaaaaay cheaper than the month-long one. Basically, for five days instead of cooking you’re own meals, you pick them up from the restauraunt. Another option they have is the Raw Box: they’ll send you the ingredients you need to make a vegan meal and some tips on how to cook them. If you just wanted to check out the restaurant itself, take a look at the delicious menu here to see what they have to offer.
Check out these out these other Her Campus pieces on clean eating here, and here – happy clean eating!
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