Watch Now: Steamed Farro and Tomato Salad With Kale Pesto

Delicious summer meals can be nutritious and easy to prepare, says Stan Hodes, executive chef at Baptist Hospital. Chef Stan took part in the ongoing Baptist Health Community Health series: Navigating the Supermarket for Breast Cancer Survivors. (Watch now: Steamed Farro and Tomato Salad With Kale Pesto.)

As part of his food demonstration, Chef Stan, prepared Steamed Farro and Tomato Salad With Kale Pesto. (The recipe is featured below.)  Packed with fresh and local produce, the recipe is also free of preservatives and filled with natural cancer-fighting phytochemicals.

Steamed Farro and Tomato Salad With Kale Pesto

Salad Ingredients
• 4 cups steamed farro.
• 2 cups halved-cherry or grape tomatoes. (Local are best.)
• 6 oz kale pesto (recipe below).
•  1/2  teaspoon Kosher salt.
• Course ground black pepper.

Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients and chill for at least an hour. This is great as a stand-alone dish or salad topper.
2. Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Kale Pesto Ingredients
• 2 cups fresh basil leaves.
• 2 cups fresh kale, cleaned, cut into small pieces and picked free of large stems.
•  3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds (instead of pine nuts).
• 2 garlic cloves.
• 1/4 cup freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt.
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper.

Instructions
Combine first four ingredients in blender. Blend until paste forms, stopping often to scrape down basil and kale from the sides of the blender. Add cheese and salt; blend until smooth. Transfer to small bowl. (Can be made one day ahead of time.)

Stan Hodes is the executive chef and operations manager of Dining Services at Baptist Hospital of Miami, a position he has held for 23 years. Chef Hodes has worked as an executive sous chef with Marriott Hotels, Orlando World Center and the Casa Magna Resort in Cancun, Mexico. He has been the executive chef at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Pan American Airlines, Marriott Inflight division and Kings Bay Country Club. After graduating from high school in Mallorca, Spain, he received a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts and hotel management from Bournemouth College in England. Chef Stan earned a “Premier’s Illuminating Excellence” Award, for Premier’s Food service program in 2008. In 2009, he was recognized by HealthLeaders magazine as one of the top 20 most innovative Food Service Executives in America. He is a member of Premier’s culinary committee, designing healthy food programs for hospitals, schools, colleges and universities.