What You Can Learn From The Burgeoning Health, Wellness And Nutrition Scene In Israel.

Welcome to the official report from Israel, where my wife Jessa and I are touring with Vibe Israel, who have brought international on- and offline opinion leaders in health and nutrition on a weeklong personalized experience of the burgeoning wellness scene Israel, including us,Lee from FitFoodieFinds.com, Emily from ThisRawesomVeganLife.com and Kate from CookieAndKate.com.

If you haven't yet discovered Israel as a country to add to your "must-visit" bucket list, you need to do it. Just check out Part 1: The Israman Triathlon and Ben Greenfield’s Fifteen Fun Facts About Israel, Part 2: Ben Greenfield Engages In Potent Anti-Aging Mediterranean Cuisine Face-Stuffing, and Part 3: Top 10 Tips For Racing Israman Triathlon for my reports from last year, during which I toured the fitness and exercise scene in Israel.

As you read, you'll definitely want to click here tune in to the audio podcast episode that accompanies this episode, which has includes an audio version of the article you're about to read, along with a bonus interview from the folks at Scio, the pocket molecular sensor I write about later in this article. The audio is brought to you by Onnit, which is where I buy crazy equipment for my home gym like Zombie kettlebells, battle ropes and sandbags, along with tasty functional foods like Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and Organic Raw Walnut Butter. Click here to check out Onnit and save 10%.

OK, let's jump into the top 10 things you can learn from the burgeoning health, wellness and nutrition scene in Israel (and by the way, the photo above is me covered in mud at the Dead Sea).

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1. Vegan Food Can Be Damn Tasty

On our very first evening in Tel Aviv, we stumbled upon "Mezze", a unique vegan restaurant located in the heart of Tel Aviv. From roasted mushroom pate to organic rye and spelt bread to a "sabha" of hot black-eyed peas sautéed with tomatoes, garlic and cilantro on organic tahini (a rich and thick eggplant paste), we dined in style after a long day on the airplane. But the highlight of the meal - by far - was the Mezze spin on "moussaka"- a traditional Greek dish made with layers of eggplant and potatoes with lentil and vegetable stuffing. This stuff literally melts in your mouth. So I twisted the arm of chef Gal Barzilai, a vegetarian and wild plan expert since the age of 13, to hook us up with his custom recipe for moussaka. Here it is. Bon appetit, baby (or as they say here, "be'te-avon").

Mezze Mussaka (as translated from Hebrew to English by Adi Kaplan). Click here to convert from metric to common. Ingredients: -700g chopped onion -2 garlic cloves, crushed -600g orange lentils (soaked/sprouted) - weight after straining and soaking -1 kg mushrooms torn hand into small pieces -100g walnuts + 50g cashew nuts soaked for 30 min in boiled water -1/2 kg sweet potato peeled and thinly sliced -30g sweet paprika -1/4t hot paprika -60g beets -olive oil Vegetables (for layering): -1kg large potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise -1 eggplant peeled “zebra” style, sliced thickly (1.5 cm) -handful small tomatoes sliced pretty thick (1 cm) Tahini (put all ingredients in a blender/hand blender; can also mix by hand): -125g raw tahini -150ml cold water -1 garlic clove, crushed -1