Mint is prized throughout the Mediterranean, used in honeyed desserts, sprinkled liberally on savory dishes and used to brew the sweetest tea. In Morocco, it's even used as an air freshener as locals stroll through the streets of the market place and stuff leaves unto their nostrils to block out strong odors.

One of my favorite Mediterranean flavor combos is mint and tomato, tossed together in a light, savory sauce for summer. I think most Americans might think basil is the end all when it comes to tomato sauce, but in Southern Italian cooking mint is used liberally. I remember cooking swordfish in a fish basics class in culinary school. It had a perky tomato sauce with paper-thin slices of garlic, 'GoodFellas' style. We added a big fresh bunch of mint, chopped, to a sauce that had bubbling hot cherry tomatoes popping open in the skillet.

Get Jennifer's recipe for Spaghetti with Mint Leaves after the jump.

Last week I had the pleasure of trying out the buffet at the Wynn in the Las Vegas. The buffet is one of the newest on the block, and is a pretty swank environment. The $20 for the lunch service was well worth it. As far as buffets go, the food was top notch--including some of my favorite entrees: poke, sushi, smoked salmon, barbeque chicken, and swordfish. In the dessert section was gelato, mousse, and decadent brownies. There were so many more choices that I didn't even get to try all of them.

The top left item in the picture was the swordfish. And oh, what a piece of heaven this was. It was so tender and flavorful that I couldn't believe my mouth. This, in fact, was one of the best pieces of swordfish I had ever had--and its at a buffet! At that point I disregarded the mercury warnings and got myself a second helping.