Fruit Salads

Add a few Tablespoons of chopped lemon balm leaves to fruit salads to impart some lemony flavor without making it sour or too tart.  Also, try mixing some chopped leaves with yogurt to use as topping for fruit salads.

Infused Honey

Pack a jar half full of lemon balm leaves, fill it with honey.  Let sit for a month before straining and use the honey to flavor tea, desserts, and more.

Simple Syrup

1 Cup of packed lemon balm leaves – 1 Cup of Water – 1 Cup of Sugar.  Bring to a boil, for 1 minute until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and cover.  Let stand 30 minutes.  Strain the leaves from the syrup.  Store the syrup in the refrigerator.  Use to sweeten lemonade and iced tea.

Smoothies

Lemon balm has a lemony flavor but it’s not intense or tart like lemons but the light flavor.  Toss a handful of the leaves in with your smoothies to impart that light lemon flavor.

Roasted Chicken

Mix 2 Tablespoons of chopped lemon balm with 1/4 cup of softened butter.  Rub this mixture under and on top of the skin of a whole chicken prior to roasting.  Toss a handful of the leaves in the cavity prior to cooking too.

 Jams and Desserts

When making jams, toss in a handful of chopped lemon balm leaves just before putting the jam in jars and processing.  It helps impart a lovely light herby flavor and often adds a wonderful texture to the final product.

Infused Vinegar

Fill a jar half full with fresh leaves, top with apple cider vinegar (champagne vinegar is nice too) and seal.  Place in a cupboard for 3 to 4 weeks.  Strain and bottle the vinegar.  Use in salad dressings, chutney, even fresh salsa for a delightful hint of lemon.