The food

The Mediterranean diet is alive and well in Israel, along with their own unique dishes and desserts.  The people eat very healthy meals, primarily of vegetables, grains, legumes, some meat and fruits.  We ventured in to one grocery store on our travels to buy some fruit and drinks and to see the products on the shelves.  They have a HUGE selection of spices and herbs and they season their food very well.  The seasoning section in the grocery store was very large, with very few packaged or frozen meals.  Hence, I noticed very few over weight people.  I direct correlation??  We enjoyed many meals in restaurants in the evenings and all of our hotels offered complimentary breakfasts which consisted largely of vegetables prepared in various ways and eggs and sweet breads.  

Two of the main dishes in Israel are falafels and shawarma, meat prepare in unique ways.  Falafels are make up of chic peas and other grains and rolled into balls through a coating and then fried.  Shawarma is meat of various kinds, usually lamb, stacked onto a spit and continually rotated to cook the outsides, which are then shaved off and served in a pita or by itself.  Of course we ate tons of fresh hummus and freshly baked pita.  Delicious!  Here are some pictures of typical foods.

This is my meal serve on the shores of the Sea of Galilee
 in an outdoor dining area with our group.
 It was a lovely setting to eat "St. Peter's fish" or tilapia
 with the ever present salad of tomatoes,
cucumbers, onion and basil.  I consumed
many glasses of basil lemonade that
was delightfully refreshing.

Legumes and grains at the market place

Freshly grown vegetables were everywhere!

Breads and fruits

Pomegranates are abundant in Israel. 
The symbol of the Pomegranate is found in many places.

My lunch of falafel in a pita

Delicious fresh hummus and pita bread

A typical lunch spread

Falafel balls served alone or with pita

Delicious and healthy salads

Shawarma on the spit.
 See the electric shaver near by to cut off the desired portion?

We didn't eat very many desserts,
but stopped by one bakery to try them out.
They were more like pastries or croissants that we are familiar with.