Melissa in cuisine has been familiar to us since childhood – for instance, the traditional melissa tea with honey. Its refined lemon aroma and mildly tart-sweet flavor complement fresh vegetable salads, fruit salads, enhance the taste of meat, and add fragrance to various drinks. Baked goods with melissa will surprise you with their fresh aroma.
It’s best to start with drinks featuring melissa.
Drinks with Melissa
Melissa Lemonade
This drink can be prepared in advance:
- Water - 1 liter
- Fresh melissa - a fluffy sprig or bunch
- Lemon - 1 piece
- Clove - 1 piece
- Cinnamon - to taste
- Sugar - to taste
Cut the lemon into cubes. Boil the water and add sugar to taste, lemon, and spices. Simmer for a minute, chop the melissa, and add it to the boiling lemon concoction. Remove from heat after a few seconds. Allow it to steep and strain. Serve chilled.
Rhubarb Drink with Melissa
For 1 liter of compote:
- Rhubarb - 3 stalks
- Melissa - a bunch
- Sugar or honey to taste
Chop the melissa and rhubarb, pour boiling water over them, add sugar, and remove from heat to let the mixture steep. Make fruit ice from cherry juice and add it to a glass of rhubarb lemonade.
Summer Vitamin Tea with Melissa
For 2 liters of tea:
- Melissa leaves, raspberry, black currant, and lemon grass - 4-5 leaves each
- Ginger - a 1 cm piece of root
- Lemon juice to taste
- Tea - 5 g
- Sugar to taste
Boil water and add the ginger. While the ginger simmers, chop the leaves and add them to the water 5 minutes after boiling. Then add the lemon juice, sugar, and tea. Cool the tea or drink it hot.
Tropical Lemonade with Melissa
For 2 liters of water:
- Sugar to taste
- Ginger - a piece of root
- Strawberry - 0.5 kg
- Orange - 2 pieces
- Melissa - 1 bunch
Boil water, add sugar, squeeze the juice from the oranges, and add it to the water. Mash the strawberries and add them as well, along with the melissa and grated ginger. Remove from heat and allow to steep.
Baked Goods with Melissa
Melissa Rolls with Kiwi
- Puff pastry – 110 g
- A little flour for dusting the surface
- Kiwi – 1 ripe piece
- Ground melissa – 2 tsp
- Honey – 3 tsp
Roll out the dough and sprinkle it with ground melissa. Mash the kiwi pulp and spread it over the dough. Roll it into a log, slice it into pieces, and brush each roll with honey. Bake for 20 minutes at 200°C.
Savory Salad with Melissa
- Herring – 1 piece
- Eggs – 2 pieces
- Green apple – 1 piece
- Onion – 1 piece
- Cucumber – 1 piece
- Vinegar – 1 tbsp
- Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp
- Peppers to taste
- Black bread – a few slices
- Melissa – 1 bunch
- Chives – 1 bunch
Cut all ingredients into cubes, and chop the greens. Mix the oil with vinegar, and dress the salad. Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours and serve in glasses or bowls, garnished with slices of Borodinsky bread.
Green Salad with Melissa
- Chicken or turkey fillet – 1 piece
- Slightly underripe kiwi – 2-3 pieces
- White cabbage – 100 g
- Melissa – 10-12 leaves
- Vegetable oil (such as mustard oil) – 2 tbsp
- Vinegar, preferably balsamic – to taste
- Salt
- Peppers to taste
Shred the cabbage and melissa, and cut the kiwi into pieces. Tear the meat into fibers. Dress and mix.
Melissa is popular in cosmetology , it can be grown on a windowsill, and thanks to its unique chemical composition , it is actively used in medicine .
