Recipe from the Cynthia's Kitchen - Lemon Balm

My favorite way to use Lemon Balm (Melissa officials) is for a refreshing summer iced tea. Just pour boiling water over some lemon balm leaves and steep. Cool and ice. OR, even easier, pour cool water over leaves and leave in the sun all day. 

Lemon balm needs to be chopped fine because of the little sharp leaf edges but it’s perfectly suited to being chopped fine in fruit salad or a green salad. It doesn’t do much for a stir fry, for it loses much of its taste.

Roasted Lemon Balm Chicken

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup lemon balm leaves, divided
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves, divided
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• salt and pepper to taste

•  
• 1 (3 1/2) pound whole chicken
• 1 teaspoon garlic mashed and chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F 
• Set aside 1/3 of the whole lemon balm leaves and 1/3 of the whole sage leaves. Chop fine the remaining lemon balm and sage. Place the chopped herbs into a mixing bowl with the butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir until evenly mixed. Loosen the skin of the chicken, and rub the butter mixture underneath the skin, over the breast and legs. Rub the skin of the chicken with garlic, salt, and pepper. Place the reserved herbs into the cavity of the chicken, and place breast-side-down onto a roasting pan.
• Roast in the preheated oven 30 minutes, then turn chicken breast-side-up, and continue baking until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 20 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 165 degrees F. Remove the chicken from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before slicing.