Apple Slaw

I preface this with: you do not have to love fruit in savory dishes to be into this slaw. It’s a touch mustardy, not creamy, and the apple makes it. I love it with broccoli slaw but cabbage works too!

You know slaws mean you have to make it in advance. It is not as eaten immediately. Give it at least an hour in the fridge – which, you’ll likely round down, so >30 minutes. Mine usually gets the whole workday to hang out.

Apple Slaw
Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
pinch black pepper
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1 apple
1 package broccoli slaw

Directions:
Mix up or shake together the dressing of the oil, mustard, vinegar, honey, pepper, and red pepper if using.

Chop the apple into sticks similarly sized to the slaw.
Mix together the slaw, apple, and dressing.

Refrigerate for an hour, or at least 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

It is great as a side dish with anything. It is really great with barbecue flavors, or pulled pork, and it holds up for a few days if using broccoli slaw.

Ranch Chicken Burgers

{originally published in 2012 and updated in 2024}

These are possibly the most-repeated dish from the blog. We’ve been having these since using a grill pan in our apartment way back when and now have them regularly in the spring and summer. They’re so good and such a crowd-pleaser.

Ranch Chicken Burgers
Ingredients: (for 4)

1 pound ground chicken
1 packet dried ranch dressing/dip mix (~2 teaspoons)
3 tbs ranch dressing
4 rolls

Directions:
Preheat the grill.
Mix together the ground chicken, ranch mix, 1 teaspoon of ranch dressing – reserving the rest for topping.
Form into 4 patties.

Sprinkle with salt & pepper then grill until cooked through 165-degrees being careful not to flip too often. These cook well on a griddle.
Serve on buns with more ranch and any toppings you like!
Enjoy!

We have these often but hadn’t yet this year. The kiddos didn’t remember them and each ate it all! There’s the lesson – repeat a previous dinner, nobody remembers how often you serve something! We each added ranch on the buns and these are great with lettuce, tomato, pickles, or anything! I think the kids add ketchup.

Chopped Greek Salad

This chopped Greek salad has the perfect bite every time since everything is the same size! There are a few special ingredients to make it extra special – spoiler: mint and crumbled pita takes this salad to the next level.

Chopped Greek Salad - The Three Bite Rule

Chopped Greek Salad
Ingredients: (serves 2 meals, or 4 sides)

1 can garbanzo beans
1/2 cucumber
1 small tomato
1 bell pepper – any color
~10 mint leaves (or swap for 1 teaspoon fresh oregano)
~1/4 of a red onion
2 tablespoons oil/red wine vingear or 2 tablespoons Italian dressing
1 cup pita chips
Optional: 1 tablespoon creamy caesar + 1 tablespoon Tahini

Directions:
Chop the cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, mint, and red onion. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Soak the onion in cold water.
Add all the veggies, herbs, and cheese into a bowl.

Chopped Greek Salad - The Three Bite Rule

Drizzle in the dressing or oil/vinegar, salt and pepper, zatar spice or Italian seasoning, and toss well.

Taste and adjust as needed. Just before serving, crumble in the pita chips.
Optional: stir together the caesar/tahini mixture and drizzle over the top.
Enjoy!

Chopped Greek Salad - The Three Bite Rule

The mint and the crumbled pita chips are the true stars of this salad. It is flavorful, filling, and has all the textures. I ate this for lunch – and can totally picture throwing it together for dinner on the baseball sidelines! It’d be great to bring to a party.

Caesar Chickpea Wraps

I love all the caesar things so I used the flavors into a meatless wrap. It has caesar flavored chickpeas, croutons, lettuce, caesar dressing, and extra parmesan. I loved the warm chickpeas with crunchy lettuce.

The Three Bite Rule - Caesar Chickpea Wrap

Caesar Chickpea Wraps
Ingredients: (for 2)

~2 slices Italian bread, cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
salt & dried herbs
1, 8oz can chickpeas
2 tablespoons parmesan
2 tablespoons creamy caesar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)
2 wraps
2 cups lettuce

The Three Bite Rule - Caesar Chickpea Wrap

Directions:
In a large skillet, warm the olive oil and butter over medium heat and drop in the bread and sprinkle with salt and dried herbs. Toss well and let toast, about 3 minutes.
Remove from the pan and coat again with olive oil. Drop in the chickpeas, creamy caesar, half the parmesan, half the creamy caesar, anchovy paste, and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes to heat through.

The Three Bite Rule - Caesar Chickpea Wrap

Assemble the wraps with lettuce, croutons, ~half or 1/3 of the chickpeas and top with a drizzle of caesar.

The Three Bite Rule - Caesar Chickpea Wrap

Wrap it up and enjoy!

It was a fun lunch. Speed this up by making the chickpeas in advance or use croutons from a bag. This backs well too with just some assembly required.

The Three Bite Rule - Caesar Chickpea Wrap

Leftover anchovy paste?
Make your own caesar dressing!
Chicken Caesar Salad Burgers!
Add some to your Caesar Broccoli!
You need Caesar Deviled Eggs!
Caesar Pasta too!

Pickle Ranch Salad

The Three Bite Rule - Pickle Salad

Salad kits are so fun, though rarely enough for a family meal so I made our own. I love love love pickles so seeing the pickle inspired ones are close to my heart. Pickle Ranch SaladIngredients: 1 packet “Restaurant Style” … Continue reading 

Turmeric Couscous Salad

This couscous has chewy cranberries, fresh mint, and a citrus dressing. Side dishes are tricky to have energy for or coordination for, but this has just a few ingredients and is great made ahead of time – who doesn’t need a dinner head start?!

The Three Bite Rule - Turmeric Couscous Salad

Turmeric Couscous Salad
Ingredients (for 4):

1 cup Israeli couscous
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup orange juice (mine was orange tangerine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon turmeric
fresh mint

Directions:
Cook the couscous and allow it to cool.

The Three Bite Rule - Turmeric Couscous Salad

Mix in the juice, olive oil, cranberries, turmeric, and fresh mint. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste.
Chill until serving.

The Three Bite Rule - Turmeric Couscous Salad

Add another splash of juice before serving, if needed.

We have so so much mint so I could have added even more. The orange juice dressing and the fresh mint are really the dominant flavors here.

This was nice for variety since the kids will eat any form of pasta anytime but the turmeric added a pop of color we don’t see all the time. One kid ate tons, one ate some without strong feelings either way but overall I’d say it’s a winner and something I’d make again. The sweetness goes well with sausages or grilled chicken or falafel, or would definitely be of interest at your next BBQ!

Black Bean & Avocado Salad

This salad is perfectly served alongside tacos! It is flavorful, cool, and so so easy. I’m including a bunch of alternatives. We often have black beans or avocado on the side and this time was just a touch more special as a salad with dressing.

The Three Bite Rule - Black Bean & Avocado Salad

I loved it. I ended up scooping the remnants up with tortilla chips.

Black Bean & Avocado Salad
Ingredients: (side for ~4)

1 can black beans
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup cheese (cotija or feta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon cilantro (chopped or from a tube or frozen cube)
1 teaspoon honey
lime juice from half a lime
salt & pepper

Directions:
Drain the black beans and add to a bowl with chopped avocado, chopped tomato, and cheese.

The Three Bite Rule - Black Bean & Avocado Salad

Then mix up the dressing – add olive oil, cilantro, honey, lime juice, salt and pepper and shake in a jar or whisk together in a bowl.

The Three Bite Rule - Black Bean & Avocado Salad

Add the dressing to the beans/avo/tomato and stir gently (too much stirring will mash up the avocado!).
Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Black Bean & Avocado Salad

I loved this. Chopping everything smaller would make a good dip – or my littlest one put it inside her tortilla and ate it like a taco. Our bigger kid ate the avocado and tomatoes out of it but was more into the tacos.

Substitute the tomatoes for corn, or red onion, or bell peppers, or whatever you like! Skip the cheese if you need it dairy-free. The avocado means it can’t quite be made in advance but everything else could be ready and add the avocado before serving.

Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw

I revisit these crispy fish pieces regularly and most often have them as tacos with lemonade slaw or as a Mexican-ish fish taco bowl. Today I branched out and made these 2 ways – as a pita pocket sandwich or as a bowl!

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw

Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw
Ingredients: (for 2 servings)

4 breaded fish fillets (I use a variation of these)
2 cups shredded brussels sprouts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup poppyseed dressing
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 pita pockets – optional

Directions:
Cook the fish – I airfried mine for 12ish minutes. (They do well in the toaster oven for 15-20 minutes.)
While the fish is cooking, mix together the shredded brussels sprouts, cranberries, dressing, dijon, lemon juice.

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw

Serve the crispy fish over the slaw or in a pita with the slaw.

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw

I loved this! It was great to have something I pigeon-hole into one set of flavors in a new way.

The slaw would be great with broccoli slaw, or cabbage, or shredded carrots- whatever you want! I intended to use broccoli slaw but it was sold out. The dressing is my go-to for slaw – coleslaw isn’t a signature dish and this bottled dressing is perfect. I never pick it for a regular salad but it is great to have on hand to mix slaw as needed.

Make your tacos for cinco de mayo and have the remaining fish around for these!

Enjoy!

The Three Bite Rule - Crispy Fish with Poppyseed Slaw

Lettuce-less Salad Series: Cabbage Slaw with Peanut Sauce

This salad is a great side or it eats like a meal too. It miiiight not be the most picturesque but I couldn’t not share it. Think crunchy purple cabbage and carrots with peanut sauce and some shredded chicken- or skip the chicken. Either way, it is great and so fast.
The Three Bite Rule - Cabbage Slaw with Peanut Sauce

Cabbage & Carrot Slaw with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients: (for ~4-5 as sides, or ~2 as a meal)

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 inch grated ginger
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2 large carrots, shredded
~1 cup roasted chicken, shredded (optional)

Directions:

Shake the sauce together in a jar (or whisk together in a bowl) the soy sauce, peanut butter, ginger, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Refrigerate until serving or make and serve.
Mix the cabbage and the carrot.
Drizzle in the peanut sauce and mix well. Add in the chicken – if using- and stir gently.
The Three Bite Rule - Cabbage Slaw with Peanut SauceEnjoy!

I loved this! Know that brown sauce – like peanut sauce – is not beautiful but so tasty. We had it with sesame noodles and edamame- that’s on the regular rotation here. This slaw was great for a crunch and for the peanut flavor. My 5-year-old pb lover liked it and ate a bunch. My ~2-year-old pb lover only ate a little.

There you have it, my salads without lettuce:
this cabbage and carrot slaw with peanut sauce
Watermelon Mint Salad
Peach, Tomato & Mozzarella Salad