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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Eating (Sometimes) Healthy in the Holy Land

I just got back from a weeklong trip to Israel.  Beside all the great historical things to see, the food was amazing.

One thing to observe in Israel is that the people there are thinner than they are here.  Part of it may be how much they smoke, but I think much of it has to do with diet.  They seem to eat a lot of salad.

Breakfast was our biggest meal of the day.  The hotel had an abundant array of cheeses and yogurt, and an omelette bar, which I didn't touch.  But, there was also a huge salad bar, with fresh lettuce and vegetables, and also with prepared salads that had nuts and seeds and fruit.  Another thing I loved at breakfast was a date and sesame spread to put on bread, which was absolutely delicious.  I also enjoyed a couple slices of halvah, which I won't even suggest is a health food, but it is a mixture of sesame and sugar.

Here's a typical lunch.  We had fresh hummus, baba ghanoush, pita bread, salad, chik peas, and I indulged and had a little bit of falafel.


Another treat for lunch was a Sabich sandwich.  Inside the pita, we had grilled eggplant, tahini, mango chutney, cabbage, and some other veggies.  Normally it comes with egg, but I had mine without.
I enjoyed some street falafel in Jerusalem.  I wasn't a big fan of the greasy french fries on top, so I didn't eat them.  Inside the pita was some of the best falafel I've ever eaten, along with hummus, tahini, and veggies.

Another bonus of eating in Israel, where most of our meals were kosher, is that if it's a "fleshig" meal, also known as a meat meal, there will be no dairy.  So, any ice cream served with a fleshig meal is by default dairy-free and vegan!

There was only one meal where I had no options, a bag lunch with "American-style" cheese or tuna sandwiches.  Luckily, we stopped at a gas station (!), and this is what they had to offer:

A gas station with a whole bunch of salads, hummus, and baba ghanoush.  I asked for hummus with some tomato and cucumber slices.

Needless to say, I ate well on my trip.

2 comments:

Andy Levy-Stevenson said...

Dang, wish I'd known you were coming ... it's always interesting to meet online acquaintances in RL.

Hope you had a fun trip ... do give us Israel readers a heads-up when you come here next.

kim said...

i love hummus. do you create your own? ")