Confession: I absolutely HATE supermarket herbs, the pathetic packages of tasteless overpriced mildew waiting to happen. But during a recent trip to Lee Lee Oriental Supermart, 1990 W Orange Grove Rd, I spotted a giant bunch of glistening fresh mint for less than 70 cents. (According to my scientific calculations, about a tenth of the price you'd pay for the packaged crap.) It's been in my fridge for about two weeks now and still hasn't rotted!
But what do you do with mint? It's actually surprisingly versatile, and can be supplemented for basil in savory dinners. It's great in Thai food, but as I found below, adds some pep to Italian as well.
*above: I took two chicken breasts, which were also extremely cheap at Lee Lee's, and coated them with A Taste of Thai spicy peanut bake (can be found in most supermarkets) and topped with mint. The herbs really brought out the freshness of the chicken, and helped me forget I was eating from already-made packaged marinade. I also threw some mint into my curried green beans, sauteed in coconut milk, soy sauce and shallots. It was really simple, and delish!
I also threw some mint into this orecchiette pasta to brighten the flavors, since my sauce was basically olive oil. I took some cheap prosciutto and fried it up (can't tell the difference that way) with pine nuts, garlic and broccolini. It was very simple and flavorful.
Good luck!
