Basil to Go: Celebrating the Quintessential Summer Herb’s Waning Days

Annually, the constant presence on my tiny terrace is basil. Not one, not two, but four pots of it, in limited square footage where I am jealous of space. Some of it is purple, and those plants double as ornamentals—deep, dark pools in a sea of green. Green, sweet basil grows tall behind them, filling out during a long season of cutting back for the kitchen. In September I let them make flowers at last, their lipped blooms a source of nectar for bees. Meanwhile, in the windowboxes on the terrace railing, hedges of the African blue hybrid have been flowering for months. When the first frost arrives, all the plants’ leaves will darken and droop dramatically, and we will know that is over. Store-bought basil is not for me, and waiting for the real deal is more than half the pleasure of a seasonal life.

Here are some easy ways to make the most of this soft herb’s leaves and flowers while we still have them. Eat it like there’s no tomorrow.

Basil, Tomato and Bread Salad:

Packing and presenting salads in containers is an easy to carry the party with you.

One of my favorite portable picnic dishes is a tomato and bread salad where juicy, late season tomatoes moisten the base bread layer as you travel. Line your container with cubes of sourdough, dress them generously with extra virgin olive oil, and cover with a heap of tomato chunks. If you are among friends, microplane a clove of garlic over the top. Season liberally with salt and black pepper. Tuck whole basil leaves around the edges so that when you help yourself leaves are carried to your plate.

Salted Basil Flowers:

I learned the salted-flower trick from Nancy Hachisu Singleton, the Japanese cookbook author. Nancy does this with shiso flowers in her book Preserving the Japanese Way. The technique works superbly with the strong-flavored flowers of African blue basil.

Strip a quarter cup of flowers into a small dish and add a quarter teaspoon of salt. Rub them together with your fingertips and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. It is then ready to be sprinkled across a salad that features something juicy and-or creamy: tomatoes, cucumber, burrata or mozzarella,  and labneh are my preferred pairings. Yogurt would be great. Farmers cheese. Fresh ricotta.

Fruit Caprese:

I like to upend a traditional Caprese salad with juicy fruit standing in for—or alongside—tomatoes. If it’s peak summer, it’s peaches. Early fall, and it’s the last plums or first figs. Salted basil flowers on the sweet fruit are startlingly good.

Cucumbers with Labneh and Basil:

From the Mediterranean to South Asia, cucumbers and dairy are a universally loved combination. The generously aromatic addition of the herbs emphasizes the sharp tang of labneh and the neutral flavor of crunchy cucumber. Aleppo pepper adds heat.

Now pack up and head out. Picnic like you mean it.

See also:

• Gardening 101: African Blue Basil
• Gardening 101: Basil
• Basil’s Last Stand: A Garden-to-Table Frozen Cocktail Recipe