This weekend, Chandler husband-and-wife team Chad and Erin Romanoff celebrate the one-year anniversary of their vintage silver food truck — The Uprooted Kitchen. Appearing weekly at Gilbert Farmers Market and Food Truck Friday in Phoenix, the Romanoff’s “restaurant on wheels” is a true gem found right in our own backyard.

At heart, a quesadilla is pretty much a Mexican grilled cheese. Take a tortilla, stuff it with something savory, add some cheese, fold it in half and toast it. It's also pretty delicious.

Not so long ago, there was a certain image associated with being vegetarian. It usually involved Birkenstocks, lentil loaf and an agenda.

Starchy, crunchy and flavorful, fried rice is a deeply satisfying dish no matter what you add to it. And you can add just about any vegetable or protein you care to name, fresh or left over.

The new link between meat consumption and heart disease, discovered by Dr. Stanley Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic, is just the latest evidence linking meat consumption to killer diseases that cripple, then kill, 1.3 million Americans annually. Hazen’s study showed that carnitine, an amino acid contained in all meat products, is a major factor in heart failure.

Phoenix Zoo has a new addition to its animal family: Andean mother bear Rio recently gave birth to a male cub.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith spoke honestly with United Food Bank President Bob Evans on Wednesday.

This past Wednesday (Feb. 13) marked the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter, when Christians would abstain from meat and dairy products in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days of fasting before launching his ministry.

An undercover investigator for Mercy for Animals notes that nothing could prepare him for what he saw during a ten-week undercover investigation in a pig factory farm.

This year’s developments have certainly vindicated those of us who care about our health, our environment and our treatment of animals.

Tucked away inside a Tempe strip mall, The Crêpe Bar sizzles with a familiar yet unexpected ambiance.

These are a few of Chicky Winkleman’s favorite Hanukkah things: ironic, ugly sweaters adorned with Stars of David, his roommate’s Christmas tree and making latkes, alone in the afternoon.

Retiring and learning to play golf didn’t really happen for the 2012 Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce Business Woman of the Year, Martha Neese.

If you start roasting a 14-pound turkey at 375 F at 7 a.m. and need to feed 15 people — including three vegetarians, a vegan and two gluten intolerants — by 1 p.m., how many pounds of cranberries do you need if the stuffing is baked outside the bird and the pumpkin pie is cut into 11.75 equal wedges?

People have differing opinions over the ethics of the nation’s food choices.

A basic chicken soup is fine for when you need warmth and comfort.

Volunteers in Mesa next month will come together to help starving children thousands of miles away.

According to the prophet Hosea, God says, “I will make a covenant on behalf of Israel with the wild beasts, the birds of the air, and the things that creep on the earth, and I will break every bow and sword and weapon of war and sweep them off the earth so that all living creatures may lie down without living in fear.”

Brunchies (17 E. Boston St., Chandler [480] 899-5036). Brought to you by the folks behind Serrano’s Mexican restaurants, this downtown spot serves brunch until 2 p.m. daily. The tasty spread includes all the usual suspects — pancakes, eggs, fruit, sausage and home fries — along with a variety of soups, desserts and Mexican breakfast favorites. $

Byblos (3332 South Mill Ave., Tempe [480] 894-1945). Middle Eastern cuisine doesn’t get much better in the Valley. The Mirza family’s signature tomato soup is a must-have item and their stuffed grape leaves are nearly as good. You can’t go wrong with the chicken Mediterranean or any of the kebabs. $$

For the football fan who cooks, tailgates are a beautiful thing.

School cafeterias – where thousands of East Valley students eat lunch each day – are going gourmet, sort of.

We’ve all gotten the finger-wagging lecture about protein from fitness trainers. Their demands for more of it leave us picturing a Henry VIII turkey leg in one hand and a dumbbell in the other. We eat meat — we’re no bunch of Birkenstock-wearing vegans (not that there’s anything wrong with that). So what the heck are they talking about?

I have a cheeseburger. I worked, earned money and paid for my cheeseburger with said money. In the spirit of us all playing by the same rules, and an eye on the bill from China, I sent 40 percent of my cheeseburger to the land of the rising sun.