Oct. 1--When you open the paper, you probably relate to the stories we cover on different levels. If you're a teacher, an article about the local school system might grab your attention more than one about a new business.

But there's one thing we all have in common: We eat.

Food affects so many aspects of our lives. Dipping your spoon into a good caldo on the first cool day of the year can bring back memories of your grandmother's steaming cazuela. Sitting down with family and friends around the table for dinner is a daily way to connect with the people in our lives. Visiting an Indian or Thai or Ethiopian restuarant can familiarize us with foreign cultures. Food educates, it nourishes, it describes who we are and gives us the energy to be. Plus, it's fun to eat.

But there's more to food too: the way we eat and raise our food affects our bodies, our environment and our economy. The food we eat, like all products we consume, is part of a larger industry. When we buy, we choose, and those choices tell our growers what we want and what we're willing to pay for it.

That's why The Herald is starting a new food column, Heart & Bowl. We will explore all the ways food affects us.

I'll include healthy, inexpensive recipes, profiles of local cooks, food history, and investigations into where our food comes from.

And I also want to hear from you. What are your favorite recipes? What foods are you curious about, but aren't sure how to prepare?

Let us know. Email us at

For this week, we'll start with a easy to follow recipe, and a dish familiar to Valley residents: tacos.

But these tacos are a little different. Olive oil and roasted vegetables cut the fat and keep the taste to a maximum.

You can follow this recipe to the "t", or you can play around. Maybe you don't like blue cheese, or it's a little more than you'd like to spend. Buy queso fresco or feta instead. Maybe you have some leftover chicken in the fridge. Feel free to cram it in.

The other great thing about this recipe? You can make it for about $10 and it will feed two adults and two kids.

1 large eggplant

2 zuchinni

1 red bell pepper

1 large white onion

1 bunch cilantro

1 jalepeno pepper

1 medium tomato

1 and a half teaspoons kosher salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 package crumbled blue cheese

15 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash all vegetables. Thinly slice eggplant and zuchinni lengthwise, about 1/4 of an inch thick. Core and seed pepper, then slice in 1/2 inch thick strips. Cut onion in half. Chop half of the onion and slice the other half in rounds, about 1/4 inch thick.

Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Spread sliced vegetables on the sheets, setting the chopped onion aside for later. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place the vegetables in the oven and roast near the top of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tender and easily pierced with a fork.

Chop about half the cilantro, the tomato and the jalapeno. Mix together in a bowl with the chopped onion.

When it's time to eat, heat up the tortillas in a pan with some cooking spray or a little oil. Stuff the tacos with the roasted vegetables, onion mixture, and top with crumbled blue cheese.

food@brownsvilleherald.com.

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Copyright (c) 2009, The Brownsville Herald, Texas

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