Lemon balm uses?
Posted by Lizardluver on May 16, 2007 · Member since Mar 2007 · 68 posts
Someone gave me some lemon balm plants, but I have no clue what to do with them! I've read that it can be made into tea and has calming/better digestion effects. Anyone know of any other uses?
Where I grew up we planted it in the yard so that when you mowed it smelled all lemony. It'll take over an area pretty quickly. I've never used it for culinary purposes though. I'm interested to see what people come up with. A nice tea w/ agave nectar sounds yummy though.
Only grow it in containers, NEVER put it in bare ground because it will spread!!!!! If you have lemon balm in your ground once, you have lemon balm in your ground forever. As with most plants in the mint family.
As for uses, cut some up in a summer fruit salad, yumm!
In addition to tea, and fruit salads, lemon balm leaves also taste great in the following forms:
--boiled into the broth when I make a vegetable hominy soup, or lentil soup
--sauteed with a little garlic oil and pepper with my vegetables
--iced tea
--in my steamed or Mexican rice
--mixed with melted Earth Balance vegan buttery spread on my tortillas (a guilty pleasure, I love a warm flour tortilla rolled up with butter and lemon inside)
I also plan to add a few sprigs when I try out the fettucine alfredo recipe on this board.
I found this article, which has many more uses for lemon balm at the end, plus a recipe for Lemon Balm Viniagrette.
http://www.sallys-place.com/food/columns/gilbert/lemon_balm.htm
Maybe you use some in a pesto combined with a little basil or mint....
Only grow it in containers, NEVER put it in bare ground because it will spread!!!!! If you have lemon balm in your ground once, you have lemon balm in your ground forever. As with most plants in the mint family.
Oh how I wish I knew this last year! I planted mint in my garden and now it has spread to the lawn! I have mint everywhere! :D
LoL, I strongly reinforce the "don't let it get out of control" statements: it took over our tree boxes, suffocating the myrtle vines underneath it, and now we can't get rid of it-- it is one tough perennial.
That said, it does SMELL amazing, but I've never found a great use for it, though I've been meaning to try tea.
Thank you all for telling me not to grow it outside. I read that just in time. Was going to plant some lemon balm outside this weekend. I'll keep it in its little pot.
Thanks everyone! In their pots they shall stay! I added some leaves to salad/sandwich and thought that was pretty good. I'll have to try adding it to rice/veg broth.
Lemon Balm is great in lemony desserts...you can use it in place of lemon zest sometimes. Blend it with the liquid you are using in a recipe to really bring out the flavor before you cook it. I have used it in lemon cookies, lemon pudding, lemon lassi (with vegan yogurt..try silk brand), the list goes on.
Tea
Syllabub
Zuppa inglese (which is neither soup, nor English)
Homemade cologne water and potpourri and sachets
Oh, and if you have a bathtub, put some in a hot tub and relax!
Only grow it in containers, NEVER put it in bare ground because it will spread!!!!! If you have lemon balm in your ground once, you have lemon balm in your ground forever. As with most plants in the mint family.
As for uses, cut some up in a summer fruit salad, yumm!
i second that! however, if you're not much of a green thumb and looking for a low-maintenance plant, this is a good ground-cover solution that doesn't require lots of pruning and such...
in my experience in trying to make a tea out of it, i couldn't really taste it, but i think that's because dried herbs are a lot more concentrated than fresh, so with the fresh herbs, I tend to use them as fresh condiments to food, etc. you could use it in fresh thai spring rolls/wraps....
I believe lemon balm is also used in Thai cuisine
Tea
Syllabub
Zuppa inglese (which is neither soup, nor English)
Homemade cologne water and potpourri and sachets
Oh, and if you have a bathtub, put some in a hot tub and relax!
good ideas yg!
With smart balance, olive oil, or mayo for artichoke dip. And other types of dip.