Harvesting from Basil Plant Growing in a Pot Indoors

When you're ready to use the leaves of the basil plant, do you just take off the leaf or break down where the stem is?

Take off the leaf and its little stem. This way the plant only has to heal one wound. The leaf-stem without the leaf will dry out and die anyway. Remember to periodically nip out (and use) the growing tip to force the plant to get bushier.