DIET | DETECTIVE^®

They say that travel is broadening and these days, that usually means gaining weight. When you leave home, you leave the foods that you routinely eat and are faced with what is available during your travel and once you arrive. Sometimes of course, the food can be good , in fact very good and that may mean a problem keeping your weight from rising. Very few people are going to stick to a strict diet when faced with the amazing foods available abroad or regional specialties in this country. Think New England  clam chowder or southern fried chicken.

Having just come back from a trip to Israel and Turkey, I worried about whether I would still fit into my clothes at the end of a l0 day trip. Fortunately the countries we picked to visit could not have been more perfect for preventing weight gain. Both countries push vegetables and yogurt and low fat cheese at all meals including breakfast. Tomatoes and cucumbers chopped fine in Israel and thickly sliced in Turkey are prominent at breakfast along with at least 4 different kinds of local yogurt, whole grain breads and very low fat soft cheese. 

Lunches are also healthy: a typical Israeli sandwich is made on multigrain, seeded bread with one thin slice of low fat cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes and sometimes sprouts. In Turkey, vegetables are again a major ingredient in lunch.  Plates of toasted eggplant, artichokes in lemon juice and yogurt mixed with stringbeans, or tiny spinach leaves along with big salads are typical . Bread is always served but never butter. Neither country typically serves desserts; a sweet is reserved for afternoon coffee or tea.

Dinners in Israel can start with vegetables like zucchini or peppers stuffed with rice and the same is true in Turkey although grape leaves are also part of the stuffed vegetables offering. Eggplant again makes an appearance, along with a myriad of other vegetables. These are all served as appetizers along with a large salad. Then perhaps lean lamb or grilled fish appears along with more bread in both countries. The emphasis on veggies is so strong that when we flew a short distance on Turkish airline, the snack was salad, dressing on the side.

Of course one reason we felt so well fed is that the vegetables are all local and taste like vegetables, the cucumbers have extremely thin skins, the artichokes are as big as basketballs and the tomatoes taste as if they grew next door.

Will our new love affair with vegetables continue now that I am back home? Probably because I discovered it really doesn’t take any more time to make a few simple vegetable dishes than a main course , especially since so many of our vegetables come already clean, peeled and chopped. And who knows, maybe artichokes will become the new chicken?

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