I just used some Kentucky Colonel mint this evening (strong spearmint flavor) mixed with some salad greens. I did a chiffonade, and sprinkled it on top, and it's a wonderful addition to a salad.

Some lime mints can also be fabulous in salsas along with your cilantro.

And don't forget the Mint Julep! and Mojito!

Also, mints are great for infusing simple syrups for cold or hot teas later. My recipe is a ratio of 2 to 1. Two cups of sugar, to one cup of water. Slowly bring to a boil til clear. Remove from heat, bruise the mint to release the oil and place the whole leaves in the syrup. Let set til cool. I remove the leaves and store the syrup in a bottle in the refrigerator for up to a week (though it never lasts that long!). Wonderful also if infused with some lemon rind also. So good to sweeten a nice summer iced tea or a nice hot, herbal tea, or green tea. Especially great for cold teas because there's none of that trying to dissolve sugar in a cold medium. It's already a syrup!

Some of the better restaurants here bring simple syrup to your table when you order hot or cold tea so you can sweeten to your liking. It's a very elegant presentation.

Some will make simple syrup on a ratio of 1 to 1. One cup of water to one cup of sugar. I call this simple water. If you want that intense syrup, you need a 2 to 1 ratio. It will work with the 1 to 1 though. But as a cook it's one of my pet peeves....1 to 1 is SIMPLE WATER, not syrup.

I've also made a rosemary simple syrup (YUM!) and a cinnamon basil simple syrup.

There are SO many different types of mint out there now, you have such freedom to express yourself with flavor!

I always found spearmint to work better in cooking than peppermint. I like it on potatoes. Mint in salads work really well too, as mentioned above.

A good rule is: spearmint for savoury dishes, peppermint for sweet dishes.

I like peppermint for Mojitos, spearmint for tea, and curly mint for Vietnamese soups. I grow pineapple, chocolate, ginger, and apple mints, but don't use them in much other than tea.

I like any of them in tabouli.

Thanks, everyone! I will use your tips. If anyone else has a tip, please share!

I was beginning to think I just didn't like mint in dishes. I will try these ideas. And thank you for the recipes, herboholic. :) Do you use the rosemary and cinnamon basil syrups for teas?

Most of my mint is spearmint, and I find this is best in waht I use most of it in - SE Asian foods. I have a little peppermint in my mint patch, but it didn't spread like the spearmint, and I only use it in sweet dishes, such as chocolate, where the one dimensional flavor is better. The spearmint is great mixed in with other herbs, such as Thai basil and kaffir lime leaves, as it often is in Thai and Vietnamese foods.

Dave

Spearmint is my favourite. I don't often use peppermint. Spearmint is the mint to use in tabouleh, with lamb, or potatoes and peas and other veges. It's the one used for savoury dishes. Peppermint is used for sweet things like confectionery, or as a tea.

I do a lot of Middle Eastern cooking and my husband, who is from India, is an expert Indian cook. Spearmint is used a lot in both kinds of cuisine.

I have several Spearmints and Peppermints, but my favorite for cooking is "Scotch Mint".... it always has a bright, clean, true mint flavor.

Thanks again! I'm headed to the nursery this weekend for spearmint, curly mint, and scotch mint (don't know if I'll be able to find that one).

I, too, like to make various asian, indian, and middle eastern dishes. So I'll be trying your suggestions. Thank you.

I recently found a recipe for mint sherbet floating around on the internet. So, I picked the young leaves from some Korean Mint I have growing in a pot and made a batch.

Let me tell you; it's amazingly good!! Even friends who don't like mint went crazy for this sherbet! Maybe it's so good because it's so hot outside, or, maybe the eggwhites keep it light and airy compared to heavier ice cream. I don't know, but now I'm wondering if other varietal mint plants would work even better for this recipe. I'm interested in trying applemint, but understand that it doesn't taste like it smells (it's said to taste like Wintergreen---maybe a good thing?).

What about other mints like the orange mint, lemon mint, pineapple mint, chocolate mint..? Maybe a blend of mints?

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mark.