Three’s a charm for a trio of buddies who are proving themselves successful businessmen as well as talented chefs. Cody Christopher, Travis Morrin and Jaron Blosser are best friends who opened Three’s Bar & Grill in Kihei in 2010 and operate Three’s Food Truck and their newest dining concept, Fork & Salad, with two locations on Maui and one in Southern California.

Fork & Salad launched here in 2016 with a mission to help consumers eat local and healthy by making farm-to-table cuisine more convenient, affordable and available. It’s why the Maui County Farm Bureau in 2017 awarded Christopher, Morrin and Blosser its annual Friend of Agriculture Award.

While the three opened Three’s Bar & Grill with a plan to buy locally grown produce and proteins, it’s Fork & Salad that best demonstrates their serious commitment to supporting isle farmers and suppliers on a consistent basis by offering consumers a choice of 50-plus fresh ingredients daily.

The award-winning, health-forward concept opened its Kihei eatery in July 2016, then expanded to Kahului in June 2018 and Orange, Calif., in 2019. (Visit forkandsaladmaui.com and stay updated via social media @forkandsaladmaui.)

The Fork & Salad trio are regular participants in Grand Taste at the Farm Bureau’s Maui AgFest & 4-H Livestock Fair held annually on the first Saturday following Memorial Day. The chefs also are staunch supporters of other nonprofit organizations that support healthy eating and local agriculture, including the Nabavi Legacy, Grow Some Good and Localicious.

This month’s Localicious recipe honors a beloved tropical fruit, the papaya. The Health Grain Mix utilizes wheat berries, which are whole-grain kernels (minus the inedible husk), the original source of all wheat products prior to any refinement. This preserves nearly all the nutrients, so wheat berries are high in fiber, iron and protein while remaining low in calories and fat. Find wheat berries at most natural food stores.

You can use a rice pot to cook the wheat berries together with the wild rice, as long as both call for the same ratio of water, which is typically 2-to-1, or 2 cups of water for every 1 cup of grains. Otherwise, cook your grains per instructions on the package.

Alternatively, you can use a different grain of your choosing or go gluten-free with quinoa or brown rice to add to the rest of the fresh ingredients.

Sunrise Papaya Salad

½ Sunrise papaya, seeds removed

1 cup Health Grain Mix (50% cooked wheat berries, 50% cooked organic wild rice)

1 tablespoon feta cheese

2 tablespoon Kula or organic strawberries, sliced

1 tablespoon dried cranberries

1 tablespoon almonds, sliced

2 tablespoon raw corn

2 teaspoon mint and cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

pinch salt and pepper

1 slice organic sourdough focaccia

Cut papaya in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds with a spoon. In a mixing bowl, add Health Grain Mix, dried cranberries, almonds, raw corn, strawberries, mint and cilantro, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Place papaya in a serving bowl and scoop grain salad mixture into the papaya’s cavity, allowing mix to spill over. Top with feta cheese. Add a slice of focaccia alongside papaya and enjoy! One serving totals 367 calories.

Localicious serves up recipes that use fresh, local ingredients. Find this recipe and more at mauicountyfarmbureau.org.