Herb of the Week – Lemon Basil

Just this year, I discovered this phenomenal smelling herb at my favorite local garden center – Condursos. I love regular basil, but then mix it with lemon and you have a little piece of heaven. Seriously, it smells that good. The lemon scent is actually caused by the same chemical that is in real lemons. It resembles regular sweet basil, but has a lighter green color, and slightly smaller leaves.

But does it taste good? Uh, YEAH!  The best thing I’ve had it in is actually just chopped up with a little bit of butter, a lightly sauteed shallot, pearl cous cous, and a little bit of parmesan cheese. DELICIOUS!

Unfortunately, the plant I bought at the beginning of the summer really isn’t doing well in the back porch sun (neither are many of my herbs for that matter — this heat wave is really hurtin’ the gardening folks that can’t water 3x/day). Plus, it keeps starting to flower, which I promptly remove as soon as I catch them, otherwise, it will lose its flavor and become bitter. Apparently, after a quick bit of research, just now, while I’m blogging, I am not USING it enough. It’s safe to cut basil back to the bottom 2 layers of leaves. I guess I will have to try it!

Even though my herbs in the back aren’t doing well, while shopping at my local Shop Rite, I found they actually have Lemon Basil, too! I couldn’t believe it. It was only $2.99, so I just bought another plant, so I wouldn’t be too upset if my plant bites the dust (literally! seriously, back off sunshine would ya?)

I love me some Lemon Basil!

July 6, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Herbs

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