Five Ways to Use Up Mint

Like everybody else on the East Coast, we're wilting in a vicious heat wave, and we're a little worried about our plants. Will the delicate lettuce seedlings make it? What about our basil? One thing we don't have to worry about is the mint we inherited with our herb bed—it is impervious to drought, rain, bad soil, pests, and it runs over everything else if we don't yank it regularly.

Even though the mint frustrates us, we can't bring ourselves to toss it out. Not only do we hate waste, mint is just so good in the summertime.

 If you have a surplus of this bossy offender, here are five things you can do to use it up:

1. Mint Tea: Let the leaves dry out for a few days, then cover them with boiling water—say, a half cup of dried leaves to a couple of quarts of water. If you like, you can toss in a bag or two of black tea. You can drink it after a few minutes, or you can refrigerate it for a cooling drink on scorching days.

2. Tabbouli. This Middle Eastern salad tastes great in hot weather, and you can toss handfuls of mint leaves in with the parsley.

3. Mint Chutney. But don't just use it with Indian food. It's also a great relish for grilled meat and roasted potatoes.

4. Cucumbers with Yogurt-Mint Dressing. Cukes are coming into season, too, so this uses up two vigorous garden plants.

5. Mojitos. It is summer, after all.