BASIL

Key reasons to love basil:
- it smells aromatically beautiful and will really get your taste buds going,
- it tastes delicious,
- it lasts ages,
- you can cook it in hot meals,
- you can eat it fresh in sandwiches,
- you can make pesto sauce with it,
- you can Italianize anything with it,
- it has a person's name, so you can look after it like no other plant,

- and for all the above reasons its very practical.

Out of all the herbs available to us basil is the one that can be utilised the most. With other herbs - such as mint, rosemary, thyme and tarragon I have a tendency to forget about them. I often buy herb plants for special one-off dinners but unfortunately do not put them to any use after the main culinary event.

Outside the context of cooking, it is famously acknowledged that parsley is used to freshen up breath and also lavender has the reputation of helping people to sleep. However, to view the significance of herbs with regard to cooking, I find basil to be the most beneficial one to invest in.

The most obvious way to utilise basil is to add it to a tomato based pasta sauce. A quite complex usage is to make pesto with it. Yet to really enjoy the delicious flavour of the exotic herb is to eat it as it is simple and fresh. A ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwich takes on a new level when you add basil. Toast with mayonnaise and basil an easy and delicious snack.

The basil plant can stay in your kitchen looking and smelling beautiful, but most importantly it can brighten up a plain snack or dinner.

Learn more about this author, J P.
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