It’s been awhile since I posted a recipe for anything, so to get rolling on this, I’m starting with something easy.

Something about growing your own herbs in your own backyard makes for truly delightful home cooking. Basil has been the easiest to grow in our Texas climate, and I have 3 varieties of them in our herb garden: Sweet, Thai and Lime. With plenty of sun, good soil and regular watering, 2 basil plants is plenty enough for your summer menus. I usually harvest the leaves by trimming the tops, and the basil responds by putting out new growth within a couple of days.

Because we’ve been doing a lot of grilling lately, I’ve been kicking up my burgers with a basil-garlic-mayo concoction. Goes great with deli sandwiches, egg, and tuna salad too.

Handful of Sweet Basil (1/2 cup)
10-15 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small lemon (or lime), halved
1/2-2/3 cup of mayonnaise
ground black pepper
salt
sriracha sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon mustard (optional

Chop the garlic and basil, then place in food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, drizzle in olive oil and squeeze in juice from half a lemon. Continue to pulse-blend until a paste–or leave finely chopped if you would like some color and texture in your mayo spread. Pour basil-garlic paste into a bowl, mix in mayonnaise. Squeeze in the other half of lemon juice . Season with pepper and salt. For a little heat, add a squeeze of sriracha sauce.

For other variations, I’ve halved the amount of sweet basil and used lime basil to give this mayo more punch. Instead of lemon or lime, I’ve used mustard instead.