Mint can add flavor to a variety of dishes, both savory and sweet. Minty flavor gives a clean fresh taste to food and shouldn’t be overlooked as a garnish, an addition, or as an essential ingredient in both food and drinks. Below are a few ways to add mint to your cooking:

Drinks
A few sprigs of mint in a pot of tea can amp up its flavor and is especially lovely for iced tea varieties. While mint and tea go hand and hand, don’t forget that mint is also excellent when paired with fruit juice. Mint works well especially with juices made from melon, lemon, and tropical fruits. Consider adding just a few leaves of mint to freshly made or store bought juice, and allowing the juice to sit for a few minutes prior to serving. Alternately, garnish each glass with a leaf or two of mint, or make mint ice cubes by placing a leaf of mint into an ice cube tray, covering with water and then freezing.

Mint leaves are essential in many alcohol-based drinks, like the ever-popular mint julep. One can find numerous recipes for both sweet and savory drinks in cookbooks and on the Internet. Chocolate liqueurs, like those made by Bailey’s are also an excellent place to use a mint garnish or mint ice cubes.

Desserts
Chocolate and mint are natural partners, and your fudgy brownies can easily become mint chocolate wonders with a little peppermint extract. Fruit salads topped with whipped cream can also incorporate mint. Mint frosting will work especially well with white and yellow cakes, and especially angel food cake. Also, consider peppermint meringues as a cool and low-fat dessert and don’t forget mint extract in freshly made ice cream. Crushed peppermint sticks can also be added to ice cream for a sparkling and clean finish.

Another common way to use mint in dessert cooking is by making mint sorbet. This can be used to cleanse the palate in between courses at an elaborate meal. Adding a bit more sugar can make mint sorbet an excellent and cool finish to a meal.

Vegetables, Grain, and Fruit
As mentioned, a little mint in fruit salad can dramatically change its flavor. Mint can also work well in green salads. A little mint and peanuts will give a salad a Southeastern Asian appeal. The herb is also commonly used in Middle Eastern food. One can garnish hummus with mint, or add a little chopped mint to tabbouleh. Mint mixed into couscous can enliven this otherwise plain grain derivative.

Cooked veggies like peas, corn and carrots can all be infused with mint flavor. A minute prior to ending cooking, add a mint leaf or two to these steamed vegetables. Remove the leaves before serving and you’ll have a new way to make these classic vegetables appealing.

Entrees
Mint marinades or chopped mint goes very well with certain meats. Lamb is often served with mint, and is best known. Mint also complements certain types of seafood like lobster, scallops, and sole. Consider mint chutney with these, or lobster dipped in mint garlic butter.

If you enjoy Vietnamese food, don’t leave out the mint. Many of the “make your own” rolls served in Vietnamese restaurants include thin rice pancakes, strips or balls of cooked meat, and a beautiful pile of fresh herbs and dipping sauce to add together for an Asian style burrito. A little mint in Thai or Chinese egg rolls can also change the taste, or savory egg rolls could be dipped in a mint sauce. A tiny amount of chopped mint can garnish scrambled eggs, omelets, or egg foo yung.

Table Décor
Mint is also very attractive as part of a flower arrangement, and its fresh smell makes it very appealing on a dinner table. Consider growing your own mint and adding tall stems to roses, lavender, or carnations. The smell can be a little overpowering, so do limit mint to just a stem or two.