Lemon Basil: Beautiful, Fragrant, and Delicious!

It is not often that we come across a plant as wonderful as Ocimum citriodorum, the lemon basil plant. It is as beautiful, as it is fragrant, as it is delicious!

I usually have my potted flowers out on my deck and I hide my herb garden, the herb plants are never that attractive, and even if they are, there smells are usually overpowering and no one wants to be sitting right next to one. However, one day at a farmers market, I came across a lemon basil plant, it was a straggly little thing when I bought it, it had 4 short spikes and small leaves. I put it over with my herd garden, far away from my guests.

But in just a few weeks it had over 30 spikes and was full and beautiful, on top of that it hard cute little white flowers all over it. Beauty alone was not enough for me to move it into the VIP section of my deck, it was the smell! How heavenly! It smelled just like lemons, fresh and clean, just like the smell of a perfect summer day- and so it gained it spot on the nice side of the deck and was shown much love from my guests.

Now came the event which put this plant over the top for me, I cooked with it. The taste of lemon and light basil resonated through the backed chicken I had made, it was truly delightful. The lemon basil as become, by far, my joy of my garden!

Here are two great recipes to use it in:

Lemon-Basil Baked Chicken (makes 2 portions)

Two boneless (free-range!) chicken breasts
One cup bread crumbs
One cup finely chopped tomatoes
One half cup Lemon-Basil leaves
Garlic, Salt, Pepper

Cut a pocket into the chicken breast (like you are cutting a sandwich roll). Mix bread crumbs, tomatoes, and lemon basil. Put half of mixture into each chicken breast. Sprinkle garlic, salt, and pepper on outside of chicken breasts. Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes (or until chicken is done).

Lemon Basil Salmon(makes 2 portions)

Two pieces of salmon
One half cup finely chopped olives
One cup bread crumbs
One half cup Lemon-Basil leaves
Salt, Pepper

Place Salmon in frying pan. Mix olives, bread crumbs, and lemon-basil leaves, and add to the top of the salmon. Salt and Pepper to taste. Cook for approximately 10 minutes (or until Salmon is cooked).