Patricia Heaton has created relatable characters on TV over the years (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Middle,” “Carol’s Second Act”). One thing she is also known for is her commitment to philanthropy, as well as a love of food.

One way she showcases the latter is through a series of unity dinners, designed to bring Christians and Jews together in conversation.

“I’m the founder of an organization called  07C, which stands for October 7th Coalition,” Heaton told the Journal. “It came together after October 7th and I didn’t see quite the response from Christian and Catholic churches as I was hoping to … so my co-founder and I decided to start speaking to churches and trying to bring Christians and Jews together.”

Recently, Heaton and O7C partnered with Maman Nonprofit for a Unity Table with The Dream Center Foundation, which brought Jews, Christians and Muslims together.

“There’s not an agenda other than to say, let’s be together in this time of crisis,” she said.

“Sharing a meal together is a sign of peace and of unity … so it’s the perfect way to start helping our communities get to know each other.”

For Heaton, growing up in an Irish Catholic family was a world away from the food she discovered, as a result of working in entertainment.

“My mom was an okay cook, but she had kind of like five standard things and nothing was gourmet,” she said. “There was a lot of ground beef involved – burgers or meatloaf or spaghetti sauce, meat sauce – and then, as a catholic, it was fish on Fridays, which usually meant fish sticks or fish filets.”

There was the occasional pot roast and lots of boiled foods.

“That’s kind of an Irish thing, isn’t it: boil everything,” said Heaton, who was one of five children. “When I started having my family and I have four sons … I really appreciated the fact that my mom worked so hard to try to put something different on the table every night.”

When Heaton moved to New York City, after graduating from the Ohio State University, a whole new world of food opened up to her. A studio musician friend introduced her to sushi. As a hostess at an Argentinian Italian restaurant, she learned all about sweetbreads (though she never got used to them). Plus, a good friend of Heaton’s was a restaurant consultant, so she got to go to all these restaurants and eat for free, as a starving actress.

Heaton, however, got the best food education when she started working with Phil Rosenthal.

“Phil Rosenthal, who created “Everybody Loves Raymond,” he had a mom who wasn’t a great cook,” she said. “Even as a starving actor/writer in New York, he would save up money all year, and then for his birthday, he would take himself out to a very high end restaurant.”

He brought that same sensibility to “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

“So much of the workplace revolved around food; this is before you could get everything everywhere through GoldBelly or whatever,” she said.

At that time, Krispy Kreme donuts were still local to the South, and he would have those FedExed in. He’d have LA’s Pink’s Hotdog truck driven on to the sound stage.

“He also introduced me to the finer things in life, as far as cuisine was concerned,” she said. “It didn’t start out that way, but eventually my adventures in the entertainment industry took me to all these great food places.”

Heaton, whose books include “Your Second Act” and the autobiographical “Motherhood and Hollywood — How to Get A Job Like Mine,” also has a cookbook: “Patricia Heaton’s Food for Family and Friends.” Heaton’s recipe for Chicken Chilaquiles is below.

“For someone who works in an industry where everything is sort of ephemeral – you go in front of cameras, you do stuff, but the editor takes it away,” Heaton said. “You have no idea how it’s going to turn out, you don’t know if anybody’s actually going to watch it.

“It’s great to be able to go into a kitchen, pull some ingredients together, start cooking, chopping, sauteing, whatever you’re baking, whatever you’re doing,” she said. “At the end of it, you have a meal and it actually is nourishing yourself and others; it’s a very tangible thing.”

Learn more about O7C at october7coalition.com and follow @PatriciaHeaton on Instagram.

This is just a taste of Deb’s conversation with Patricia Heaton. More about Heaton’s philanthropy and commitment in support of the Jews coming soon.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:

Chicken Chilaquiles

Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish, often served at breakfast or brunch. It usually consists of corn tortillas covered in a salsa, mixed with meat, and topped with cheese or sour cream—kind of like nachos made into a whole meal. We make chilaquiles in our household because it’s fast, easy, and delicious. It’s also a great solution to leftover chicken.

Makes 4 servings

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

¼ cup pickled jalapeños, chopped

Sea salt

3 cups shredded leftover chicken

Generous handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

4 ounces queso fresco or feta, crumbled

4 ounces corn tortilla chips

1 lime, cut into quarters

1. Heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until just softened but not browned, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and jalapeños and season with salt. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the chicken and most of the cilantro (save a little to garnish) and cook for 10 minutes more, until the chicken is heated through and the sauce has thickened.

3. Divide the chips among four deep bowls. Ladle the chicken over the chips. Top with cheese, the remaining cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Serve immediately.

From “Patricia Heaton’s Food for Family and Friends” by Patricia Heaton. Copyright © 2018 by Patricia Heaton. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.