Lifestyle

The Best Braided Bread Recipes

Braided bread are the perfect golden showstoppers at any window display of a bakery. The twisted, plump, thick bread with the right crisp and tenderness is the epitome of bread-making. Ever fantasize about making them yourself? 

Well, they are easier to make than you think! Braided bread is perfect for any occasion when you want to blow away your guests, and make an excellent first impression. You might find it easier to work with if you get the hang of it. We have collected some fantastic braided bread recipes. And they are as delicious as they look.

The Braided White Bread

The recipe is perfect for a beginner. You can make two pretty loaves from it. It is great if you have just begun to work with yeast breads. You can pair it with any soup you like, or with some pasta. If you’re cooking to impress, this simple yet elegant braided bread recipe is the way to go.

Steps To Make Braided White Bread

1. In a large bowl, mix together room temperature 1 ½ cup water and one tbsp yeast. 
2. Add ¼ cup soft butter, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp salt.
3. Then add 3 cups of bread flour and mix it. 
4. Add one more cup of flour and make the dough.
5. Turn the dough into a lightly dusted surface and knead it for around 10 minutes.
6. Place the dough into a bowl. Lightly grease it and cover with a plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm area for about 1 hour.
7. Punch down the airy dough and knead. 
8. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Take 3 pieces and roll them into long strips of about 12 inches long.
9. Line the side of the strip by side and braid them. Pinch the ends together.
10. Set the braided loaf on a greased baking sheet. Cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rise for 30 minutes.
11. Bake the bread at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes until the bread top is golden brown. 
12. Remove the loaf and cool it. Voila!

Some Other Types Of Popular Braided Bread 

1. Traditional Braided Sabbath Bread

It is a traditional Jewish bread called a ‘challah.’ The recipe is great for any day of the week, for an intimate family dinner. You can also make it to go for a romantic picnic outdoors. So, it is ideal for any situation. 

The recipe makes two gorgeous braided white bread loaves that contain egg whites. The toasted poppy seeds make the perfect savory and beautiful bread.

2. The Czech Hoska

It is a rich and flavourful bread made traditionally by the Bohemians and the Czechs. It is similar to challah, but it is made with eggs and butter. You can bake it with or without resins. Another plus point of this braided bread is that if you have some leftovers, you can whip up some bread pudding or some delightful French toast.

3. Braided Farmer’s Cheese Bread

Love the combination of simple cheese and bread? So do we and so does this recipe. The recipe has decadent farmer’s cheese fillings with the perfect chewy bread. It is the go to comfort food for date nights, family parties, and picnics. 

The versatile braided bread can go with any dish ranging from pasta, soup, chicken recipes and a lot more. You can also gift it to a foodie brother or sister! 

4. Sweet Yeasted Bread

Are you craving some sweet savory bread on the side of some sweet corn soup, or some hot chili Manchurian? The sweet yeasted bread is perfect with a variety of dishes. Share it with a loved one over a pot of hot coffee and you’ve got the perfect breakfast.

5. Sesame Whole Wheat Braided Bread

With the perfect looks and a healthy ingredient list, you can make it for your family within the hour. Use whole wheat bread instead of all purpose flour to make it more nutritious. For the finishing touch, sprinkle some sesame seeds on top to make it pop. 

It is a simple recipe which you can enjoy as it is, or with some cream cheese or butter, whatever you choose, your family will be thrilled.

6. Herb And Romano Cheese Wreath

Is it time for the festivities? Do you need to make something magnificent to impress your family? Then look no further. With the braided cheese wreath, you not only have a grand bread, but you also have the most delightfully subtle flavours of the herbs and cheese. 

You can easily bake it and cool it completely if you want to use it later. Make it ahead a day or two. You can wrap it in foil and place it in an airtight zip-lock plastic bag. When you are ready, warm it up with some butter brush and place a bowl of freshly whipped cream to go with it. You have the party ready.

7. Celebration Braided Bread

Want a bit more oomph in your braided bread recipe? Then don’t just stick to the regular braided version, make a double braided bread monster for the celebrations! You can gift these golden loaves to your family as a gift, and they are sure to love them.

The recipe is somewhat similar to the traditional Jewish recipe, Challah. Keeping the recipe somewhat similar, buckle up the braiding style to make them extra special.

8. The Braided Egg Bread

The delicate bread will be trending every time you serve it. The amplified version of the simple bread recipe makes it tender, with deep seated richness. The best part- you can make it from scratch with a few ingredients within a few steps. Make this straightforward braided bread and become the rock star of the kitchen. 

9. Cardamom Twist

How can we mention some of the most famous bread recipes without mentioning one that is full of cardamom punch? Everyone loves cardamom flavor. Bake this golden bread. It has a soft centre and a crunchy texture outside. 

Get the perfect flavor of cardamom with each bite. These slices shine especially when paired with cream cheese, maple syrup, or some honey butter.

Some Out Of The Box Ideas For Your Next Braided Adventure

1. Mashed Potatoes

Ever wonder what mashed potatoes can make your braided loaves even more delicious? Mashed potatoes contain a huge amount of starch that makes them absorb more moisture while kneading. Hence, braided bread containing mashed potatoes are extremely moist, but crispy on the outside.

2. Line Between Bread And Desert

Are you looking for a unique braided bread recipe that you can eat as bread, or even pass it as a desert? Satisfy your palette with some almond braided bread. You can use almond flour and toasted almond chunks to make it like a puffed pastry. It is easy, yet fulfilling.

Serve it some tea or coffee, or go for it during breakfast, lunch or dinner. It has a light, flaky exterior and a rich almond centre. Make it when you have too many almonds to spare.

3. The Solution To The Thanksgiving And Hanukkah Clash

Are you worried of hurting the sentiments of your extended family? Then mix two traditional recipes to make an excellent fusion- the pumpkin egg braided bread. 

Use some pumpkin puree for the recipe and some pumpkin spices. Try it with some handmade flavoured butter, and use the leftovers for French sandwiches. 

4. Seeded Braids

Can’t get your kids to eat healthy? Toast a variety of nuts and seeds and use it as topping for your next braided bread. You can try a variety of seeds such as crunchy green pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, etc. They add a great flavor and visual appeal.

5. Glaze

Make your braids shine with some easy glaze. Combine confectioners’ sugar, orange juice and zest together. Make a paste and drizzle over the bread and this makes a tropical orange glaze. Similarly, you can add other fruits to make flavoured glaze. 

Grapefruit Soda – All You Need to Know

Grapefruit is a subtropical fruit growing in evergreen grapefruit trees. It originated from an accidental crossing between sweet orange and pomelo, two other citrus fruits, and hence belongs to the citrus family. Grapefruit soda is one of the popular uses of grapefruit other than making juice or cocktails out of it. Grapefruit sodas are available in shops but can be made at home also with minimum effort and ingredients. 

Grapefruit’s taste ranges from bittersweet to sweet and sometimes sour, depending on the redness of the fruit. Also, the interior of the fruit is segmented and its color can be white, yellow, pink, or red.

Health Benefits of Having Grapefruit

Grapefruit is 92% water of its total weight, making it one of the highest water content fruit. It keeps you stay hydrated and adding one grapefruit to your daily diet will help in improving overall health.

For Weight Loss

Someone interested in losing weight can consider grapefruit due to its very low-calorie content. 100 grams of grapefruit has an average of 42 calories.

Antioxidant Rich

In between the outer layer and the flesh of the grapefruit, there is a white layer known as pith. This pith is often discarded because of its bitter taste but it has high fibre contains and is rich in antioxidants and nutrients.

Lowers Bad Cholesterol

Consuming one grapefruit a day, particularly the red or pink variety can lower bad cholesterol (LDL) by 15.5%.

Pumps Immune System

It also helps in pumping the immune system as it provides vitamin C and vitamin A.

Reduces Hypertension

Grapefruits help in reducing fats, triglycerides to be specific by 27% which is a huge number. It also has high potassium levels which help to reduce hypertension and high blood pressure.

Low Glycemic Index

Another good thing about grapefruit is its low glycemic index (GI), approximately 25 and hence consuming it does not increase blood sugar rapidly. This value is even less than fruits like banana or watermelon.

Vitamin Rich

A 28% of vitamin A available in one-half of grapefruit is good for the eyes, lungs, kidneys, and other organs. The vitamin C present not only helps to boost immunity but also speeds up the recovery of any injury or wound. It also helps in the formation of new tissues and blood vessels.

It is better to have the fruit as a whole rather than juice if you want to get some fibre for your body. It also has some small amounts of calcium and iron.

Choose the Right Grapefruit

The nutrients mentioned above are more or less present in all the varieties of grapefruit. But, the redness of the fruit determines its quality. This means that the redder or pink ones have higher nutritional values than the white ones.

The red fruits get their colour from lycopene, a carotenoid, or pigment. Research says that eating food with good levels of carotenoid lowers the risk of heart diseases and even cancer. They also have high antioxidants especially beta carotene.

So, it is always better to choose the red and pink grapefruits which are filled with more vitamins and nutrients rather than the white ones.

How to Make Grapefruit Soda 

Grapefruit soda is a simple and easy-to-make beverage that can be made at home with some regular ingredients. The steps are simple and even beginners can give a shot at making this refreshing drink. Also, it is always better to make things at home rather than buying them as the quality and freshness are maintained.

Ingredients Required

To make grapefruit soda you will need:

• Large Pink Grapefruit- 2 pieces
• Sugar- 9 tablespoons
• Water- 1 cup
• Lemons- 2 pieces
• Seltzer or Carbonated Water

Time Required

Preparation time: 10 – 15 minutes

Waiting Time: 1 hour

Yield

Serves 12 

Procedure to make grapefruit soda

1. Take out the zest from one fresh grapefruit and make juice from the other one.
2. Add the grapefruit juice, the zest, lemon juice, water, and sugar to a saucepan and boil until the sugar dissolves completely. 
3. Turn off the oven and let it cool down and settle for an hour. 
4. After that, strain the syrup in a container using a mesh sieve and remove the solid particles.
5. To serve grapefruit soda, add the syrup to a glass, add seltzer water, ice and stir. 

Nutritional Facts:

• Calories: 45
• Carbohydrate: 10g
• Fat: 0g
• Sugar: 10g
• Calcium: 4mg
• Added Sugars: 9g

 *All the values are approximate.

Note:

• You can use honey as an alternative to sugar to make a healthy version of the drink.
• Also, you can use ginger in the syrup to give a bit of a spicy taste to the sweet syrup.
• The syrup can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
• Add the syrup to your taste. The sweeter you want your drink to be, the more you need the syrup.
• Grapefruit soda tastes best when served cold.
• Another option could be using agave syrup if you don’t want to invest time in making the grapefruit syrup. But agave has got a typical taste to it which many don’t like. So, remember to taste a little amount of it before adding it to your entire drink.

Uses of Grapefruit Soda

Grapefruit soda on its own tastes delicious but if you want to add some liquor to your drink then there are some yummy cocktail recipes to look for:

1. The Paloma:  Tequila mixed with grapefruit soda.
2. Flamingo: Made with white rum, fresh lime juice, and grapefruit soda.
3. Hemingway Daiquiri: Maraschino liqueur with grapefruit soda or juice.
4. Danny Ocean: Mashup of the Paloma and Hemingway daiquiri and made with reposado tequila.

Other Uses of Grapefruit

Not only to make a refreshing drink, but you can also explore and use many other ways to consume grapefruit. Grapefruit in a salad is one such option. Try having grapefruit, kale, and hazelnut salad or grapefruit and avocado salad with baked salmon. 

Grapefruit can be consumed on its own as a go-to immediate food when you are in a hurry but if you have time you can make delicious dishes with fish or chicken. 

Almond, walnuts, and other dry fruits go well with grapefruit. Smoothies are another tasty option to consider by adding some other fruit like pomegranate to it.

With all these qualities present in a single fruit, grapefruit has made its place in the list of superfoods. The unique taste and the health benefits make it a healthy choice for you to make a refreshing drink like grapefruit soda or a healthy dish like salad or smoothie.

Freeze Applesauce The Right Way

People love apples. They love everything about an apple. They love an apple raw, cooked, or any form possible. Apple-pie applesauce, apple-chips, apple-butter, and the list goes on. You can feed someone apple snacks every day and I bet they will not complain forever. Apple-pie is one famous snack made of apple. But recently we got our attention on applesauce. It is sweet, tasty, easy to make, easy to store, and whatnot. Let’s get into how to make and freeze applesauce.

But regarding storing this snack and using it at any time of the year, we have seen problems. But with the proper strategy, we can always freeze applesauce and use it throughout the year. In this discussion let us talk about it in detail. 

1. Selecting the apples

This is the first step of the whole process. Selecting fine apples is always an added advantage. When you go out for selecting apples for your applesauce, your priority should be getting your hands on the fresh apples.

You can detect them almost right away. They don’t look dull. They look full. Fresh fruits have a vibrant color. So detecting them certainly will not bother you that much. Mcintosh and Golden delicious will give you a classic flavor in your apple sauce. Fuji and Cortland are fine too.

2. Preparing your apples

After you bought them from the market, it is essential to make them germ-free. Boil them in low heat in clean water for a little time. That will make it germ-free. Now you have to peel the skin off the apples.

Using a vegetable peeler is the best to use. But if you are confident with your knife skills you can go with a knife also. Slowly peel away the skin. Try not to cut any portion of the core here. If you do accidentally then keep it for later use.

Now the next step comes where you have to cut and produce equal slices of the apple. Knife skills are necessary here. Cut straight. Leave them in two halves if you want to. If it’s a big apple go for six to eight pieces or even more if you want. But for small apples lower your piece count.

Clean your apple. Leave off any unnecessary parts. You can leave the middle portion of your apple. Making sauce with this thing sounds a little absurd. So you need to scoop it out before the main play. Use a big spoon or you can cut in a circular motion also.

Best practices are to cut in small pieces because then the process of making sauce gets quicker. The big size of the piece will lead to more cooking time. And smaller pieces will lead to less than average time. So if you don’t have any special requirements, go with the smaller pieces.

3. Cooking the apple

Bring the pieces in the pot where you will cook. Add water accordingly. Do not give too much water. Your sauce can become watery because of that. One more important thing is if you think the apples are sticking to the pot during cooking, add more water.

Give low to medium heat to the mixture. You do not need to stir the mixture continuously. Give it a good simmer until the pieces are soft. You can add sweetener or sugar if you want. It depends on individual preference

If the apples are sweet, you can cancel the sugar part. Any external species are welcome in this step. You can add cinnamon or nutmeg to the mixture. The quantities will depend on the one who is cooking the mixture.

4. Making the sauce

After around 15 minutes, turn off the flames of your stove. Now certainly the mixture has gotten thick. The pieces have become softer. Now you have to do one more important thing. You can use a blender for creating a smoother texture here.

Blend the thick mixture in the mixture. Blend twice for more smoothness. The final color depends on the apple that you used in making. Pour in a jar or a big pot. Wait for it to become cold. Make sure to get everything from the blender. You can mix some nuts in the blender with it too.

5. Freeze Applesauce

People want to savor this beautiful snack throughout the year. But applesauce has a shelf life of only a few weeks. Then what to do? The answer is freezing it. Freezing the applesauce can considerably extend its shelf life.

Some might want to freeze the sauce or some may just keep it in the refrigerator. It depends on the needs of someone. If you are using a bag then make sure to get all the air out of it. Use a straw for that purpose. 

Pour the sauce into the bag. It is wise to use a bag, to be honest. It is more user friendly and convenient to use. So go with it accordingly. If you want to use it for a few weeks then do not freeze your applesauce. Just give it a good chill.

If you decide to use a container, then you have to leave some space before packing the container. Because when the applesauce gets frozen it can penetrate the sides or the edges if you leave it without some space. To avoid that to happen at least leave one centimeter between the container and the apple sauce layer.

6. Label Applesauce Bags

This part is for the people who want to enjoy their applesauce every season. Label your freezer bags before entering them in the deep freezer. Write down the date, the quantity, etc. Do not forget to check once in a while. Label your container too.

The next and final step comes now. When you want to get some of your applesauce, getting it frozen is a work of a fool. Boil your container or bag in low heat. When it gets warm, then you need to bring it out and serve. That way you can enjoy this awesome dish to its full taste.

How To Freeze Peaches The Right Way

Peaches are great food. Aren’t they? Everybody likes to enjoy peaches almost every day of the year. There is a way if you want to get this awesome fruit all throughout the year. You have to freeze it right. 

Peaches of off-season do not taste that good. They kind of lose the flavor. So you need to freeze them when in season. Frozen peaches work great almost on every dish. As this is one of the flavourful fruits globally, frozen peaches do not lose their characteristics.

The preparation

What is the correct way to freeze peaches? The answer is – no one knows. But some rules are there. If you freeze accordingly, your peaches may turn as exactly as it was before. Well, that is too much promise, though.

In the preparation segment, there are a few steps. But the most important step here is cutting your peaches. It is slightly difficult if you are a total newbie in this field. It also depends on the ripeness of the fruit. 

Get a nice and sharp knife after that cut the peach into two half. Then removing the pit is the only option that remains. It is okay if both the halves are not perfectly even in proportion. When you use the peach mostly in smoothies, it does not matter what the proportions are.

How to prevent peaches from turning brown?

This is a problem while you freeze certain foods. Like peaches, apple and avocados turn brown when heavily exposed to air. You must have seen this while eating an apple. When you cut in two halves, it is exposed to air. Thus it becomes brown.

There is a solution to every problem. This problem is a very small one in that aspect. What you need is lemon water or simply a mixture of lime juice and water. And you need to soak the fruit pieces in lemon water. That prevents them from turning brown immediately.

Another option is to use a fresh fruit protector. This does the job as well.

Freeze the peaches with the skin on or pealing it before?

Both of this can happen. When you freeze the fruit on the skin, it becomes very easy to let go of the skin when defrosting. But there are different recipes. Different recipes require different forms of this fruit. So it always depends on the requirement of the recipe.

If you intend to peel the skin, follow the steps below.

1. You need two different bowls of water. One for boiling water and one for cooling water.
2. Boil the fruit for a minimum of two to three minutes. You will notice the skin starting to get loose.
3. After doing the second step, now is the cooling step. Bring the fruit out of the boiling water and place them in the cold water.
4. It will take not so much time to get the cold of the cold water. Once you feel right, bring the peach out of the bowl. Now you can easily peel the skin.

It is the conventional way to keep the skin on until you defrost the peach. But again it depends on the user and his requirements.

Freezing and sealing

After you successfully soak them into the lemon water, you have to jump to the next step. The next step is to arrange them individually on a large baking sheet. Do not overlap the pieces because it will create a problem when you try to defrost them.

Next step is to find the ideal container for the fruits. The ideal container can vary in sizes and types. But before putting the pieces in a bag, you need to freeze them overnight or at least for four hours until they become slightly solid. Then comes the process of putting it in the freezer.

After you find your right bag for freezing, make sure you try to keep all the air out of the bag. Push out the air as much as possible. You can straw it out also. Both of these methods work just fine. After that, put your fruit in the bag and tightly lock the seal.

Peach is a great fruit for freezing. You can freeze them as long as a whole year. In this manner, you can also enjoy them no matter what the season is.

After locking the seal do not forget to put all the dates and labels on the bag. If you don’t remember when you put the bags in the freezer, then a major problem will arise. So write the dates on the bags.

Can you keep a whole peach frozen?

Of course, you can freeze a whole peach. But if your recipe does not call for it or require it, try not to freeze any fruit that way. Because when you freeze the peach whole, you do not cut the fruit. So the pit stays inside the peach.

When you intend to use it, you need to defrost the peach; first, you have to boil the fruit in hot water. Then you have to cut the fruit in half and then only you can take out the pit. You see all of this can be a little frustrating for someone. So do the same before freezing and enjoy the fruit afterward.

Small tips about freezing peaches

Freezing is an ideal way to preserve the peaches if one wants to use them the whole year. After defrosting, you may experience subtle softness in the frozen peaches. This is not a reason to worry. Freezing in no way reduces the quality.

There are various places you can add peaches to increase the taste. If you are a fitness lover, add peaches to your oatmeal. People also add them to baked goods or solid foods. Smoothie is a major thing where people add peaches. So the point is to cut the pieces accordingly.

Do not apply frozen peaches directly to your food. Always remember to defrost them. This is a very important thing to do.

Best Ways To Freeze Basil

Freezing basil can be very useful as basil is mostly a summer plant and its leaves dry completely in the winter. The soil needs to be warmed up nicely, and then only basil can grow in it. To solve this problem, freeze basil in your house during the summer, and you can have fresh green basil leaves throughout the year.

Basil is an herb obtained from the plant Ocimumbasilicum L. (sweet basil) and is from the mint family. The plant is small in size and grows up to 100cm. It is widely popular in Asia, America, and Africa. 

It is very much loved in India as well for its aroma and medicinal values. Basil is a kitchen herb and is mostly grown in houses in small pots or vessels. The plant does not require much effort to grow and is very low maintenance but is extremely sensitive to frost. It best grows in warm and humid conditions.

For most of India and the world, the winters are chilling cold, and hence the plant dries down easily. Thus, the leaves of this plant can be collected and stored for around a year by following the methods we will discuss now. 

Methods To Freeze Basil

Out of so many methods available online, only a few are useful. Here we will get to know about the tried and tested ones that are beneficial. 

Also, it is very important to know that we must not lose the qualities and medicinal values while freezing the basil. These methods also ensure that and hence are reliable.

1. Blanched Leaves – 

Blanching is a process in which a vegetable or herb is immersed in boiling water for 2-3 minutes and then is immediately transferred to an ice water bath.

For basil leaves, collect the leaves and clean them. Then put them in boiling water for 5-10 seconds, which is enough for basil. Transfer the blanched leaves into an ice water bath. Dry the leaves thoroughly and flash freeze them for about a day. The leaves are then ready to be stored.

Though it is one of the easiest processes, the drawback is that the leaves are very delicate, and hence if they are kept in the boiling water for few more seconds, they turn brown and lose their smell.

2. Washed Leaves – 

In this method, collect and clean the leaves. Wash it with normal water and lay it on a tray to dry them completely. Freeze them for a day or half until they are firm enough to be stored. Then transfer the leaves to a freezer bag and make it airtight. 

This method again doesn’t require much work, but they thaw very quickly. Comparing blanched and unblanched leaves, the blanched one stay fresh for a longer time.

3. Directly Freezing the Leaves – 

As mentioned in the ‘Washed Leaves’ method, follow the same procedure. Wash the leaves and dry them completely, then directly store them in a ziplock bag without flash-freezing them. 

Unblanched leaves are frozen best using this method. The leaves stay in their natural green colour for a longer time, and also this method is very easy.

4. Chopped and Oil Coated Leaves – 

This method is one of the most popular methods to freeze basil. It is widely used, and people review it to be very useful in storing basil.

In this method, we need to wash and dry the leaves as earlier. Then we have to chop the leaves coarsely in a food processor, or a knife can work as well. The chopped leaves are then sprinkled with a little amount of olive oil. 

The leaves and olive oil are then mixed well so that each of the pieces gets well coated with the oil. Then we have to take an ice tray and put the mixture in the tray, add a little water, and freeze. 

The cubes once frozen can be transferred in a freezer bag or a ziplock bag. The cubes’ size will vary according to the size of the tray and so, try to have an idea as one tablespoon of fresh basil leaves is equivalent to how many cubes.

It is a full-proof method to freeze basil if you want that natural green colour of the leaves even after many days.

Tips To Perfectly Freeze Basil

Though the methods mentioned above are easy to follow, sometimes it becomes a bit tricky to get your frozen basil perfectly. To ace, the method of freezing basil, follow these simple tips and it can work wonders.

• The leaves need to be removed from the main stem or from a thick stem to use them and pulling the leaves off the stem using fingers is the best way to do so.
• Use a colander to wash the leaves thoroughly to get rid of all the dirt and even chemicals, if any. A salad spinner can also be used for this step.
• Well, most of the time, it is hard to maintain the bright green colour for a long time but, the ‘Chopped and Oil Coated Leaves’ method works wonders in that case.
• All the methods discussed here are for freezing basil. But, in case you decide to store them in the cupboard, which is at room temperatures, then make sure that oil is not added to it and if you do so, the chances of food poisoning increases.
• For using the frozen basil in dishes where heat will be used, there is no need to thaw the frozen leaves separately. It can be directly put into the dish, and it will melt there only.
• The cube form of frozen basil is much easier to use in soups and stews than in any other dish. So better to choose the method to freeze basil according to the use and the dish you will make.

Uses Of Frozen Basil

Basil is one such herb which is famous for its fragrance. It is widely used in Italian food. Dishes like pesto is made with basil. Soups, stew, chicken, salad, pizza all go well with basil, and delicious dishes can be made by combining the items with basil leaves. 

Also, Mediterranean countries like India use basil in their cuisines.