Plant mint once and you will have it forever! I give my mint an enthusiastic thinning several times each season, but it still spreads everywhere. It pops up in the daylilies, forces its way through the creeping juniper, and has even wended its way through the seams in our stacked block retaining wall. Its heavenly aroma makes trimming and pulling a pleasant task. And in the winter months, I miss the mint. Mint has so many uses! Today, I thought I would share my favorites with you, just in case you have a wild patch of your own!

• Iced Tea Why settle for bland iced tea when your taste buds tingle with the addition of mint? Next time you brew some iced tea, add mint sprigs to the hot water with the tea bags. Steep as usual then discard the mint and tea bags. If brewing sun tea, just throw the mint in the water with the tea bags. Add a garnish of young mint leaves to the top of your iced tea when serving for a special touch- Or an Instagram-worthy photo!
• Mixed Drinks Summertime is my favorite time for cocktails. I like to sip them on the patio while watching the grass grow or the fireflies blinking. And when the cocktail begins in the garden, it really is a sip of summertime! Muddle your mint for mojitos or create a minted simple syrup by adding the mint leaves. Once your syrup has cooled, remove and strain.
• Fruit Salad I like to add a mint frisee to my fruit salad in the summer. Toss fresh fruit with the mint threads and a drizzle of honey. Let it sit on the counter while you put the finishing touches on dinner, this will allow the honey, mint, and fruit to create a syrup.
• Water Surely I didn’t intentionally put “water” on my list? Yes! I did! Water becomes redundant some days. So tickle your taste buds with some tasty additions to your water routine. I like to add a thin slice of lemon, a slice of cucumber, and a few fresh mint leaves to my water. I drop them in before the ice. The addition of ice slightly bruises the fruit and herbs, releasing the yum. It looks very pretty in a glass, but just as often these go into my Nalgene water bottle. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
• Mint Pesto Everyone knows mint goes well with lamb, but we don’t eat much lamb in Oklahoma. We do eat chicken. Chicken skewers marinated in a mint pesto, cooked on the grill, and then drizzled with more mint pesto is a fantastic and healthy supper. Just thinking about it gets the juices running! For a recipe, try “Chicken Skewers with Mint Sauce” from the book The Anti-Inflammatory Diet & Action Plans by D. Calimeris and S. Bruner. This book is packed with goodness!
• Sorbet Mint Watermelon Sorbet has become my husband’s favorite after dinner treat! Nothing says summer like watermelon. And nothing refreshes better than mint. It is only natural that these two should have a love child in frozen form. While looking for a lost recipe, I discovered a Martha Stewart recipe instead and adapted it. I reduced the amount of sugar from 1 1/3cups to 1 cup (we eat way too much of that stuff!). It is easiest to serve the day you make it. The longer it sits in the freezer, the more difficult it is to scoop out of the pan. Honestly, by the end of the batch, I use a large kitchen knife to cut off chunks. If you would like to try the recipe, you can find it here: https://www.marthastewart.com/1142596/watermelon-mint-sorbet.

So, if your mint is unruly, don’t get mad- get eating! Do you use mint from your garden? I would love to hear the ways you incorporate summer’s minty bounty in your life. Leave your tips in the comments.