Summer is here, and with it comes picnics, firepit cooking, and a banquet of fresh foragables. This abundance is what inspired me to choose MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN for my July-August menu. In the book, 10-year-old Sam Gribley runs away from home and lives alone in the Catskill Mountains, foraging and trapping his food. He describes dozens of wild edibles, most notably a “wild salad” of dandelion greens. So that’s what we’re making today!

Sam doesn’t specifically state what’s in the salad (apart from the greens), so I included lots of other items Sam eats in the book like fresh strawberries, apples, walnuts, and bird’s eggs (I used quail eggs). I roasted the walnuts in maple syrup, since Sam makes maple syrup in the book, and I for one LOVE a good candied nut in a salad. Of course, Sam wouldn’t have had any dressing, but I whipped up a quick maple syrup vinaigrette because to me salad just screams to have something holding everything together. I’m glad I did, because I think this is my new favorite dressing! It’s sweet-tart, with just a hint of spice from stone ground mustard. If you want to drizzle something book-accurate on your salad instead, you could whisk some maple syrup with a bit of rendered animal fat.

Full disclosure: I found the dandelion greens a bit bitter, but I would DEFINITELY make this again with a mix of dandelion and other greens.

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