Tonight I was inspired and I just had to share with you!
We like to have dinner guests at our house from time to time. Tonight we had my sister over. My sister is vegetarian, so I knew I could do something outside of the box and vegan and she would go with it. I told her we would be having hot dogs and she was cool with that, but she had NO IDEA what she was in for. I say that I was inspired because a while back at Central Florida Veg Fest, I saw a group of guys at a mobile, vegan hot dog cart and it got me thinking. “What if I could create a little bit of that magic here tonight in my home for my sister and her partner? So I did. The results were absolutely amazing, and I am happy to share them with you in hopes that you will have your own vegan hot dog party for dinner one night. Some of the combinations of toppings sound crazy, but I am telling you…all of us were freaking out about how good they were! Here we go…
Dogs: Get yourself some “Smart Dogs” by Lightlife. You want to make sure they are the jumbo ones. Here is a picture courtesy of Lightlife:
Cook them however you’d like. The directions will tell you how to boil them or microwave them, but I cook mine on a mini George Forman Grill that I have literally had for like 15 years. It works great and I use it just for hot dogs and the occasional portabello mushroom from time to time. I like the grill marks it gives you and how nicely browned it makes the dogs! I would tell you if these dogs tasted bad, but they don’t! They are really yummy. I am not saying you try to trick anyone that is a meat eater into eating one of these…that’t not nice, but I am saying that it would be tough for them to know the difference. These puppies are good!
Buns. I got myself some 100% whole wheat buns (see below pic courtesy of Nature’s Own). I want to be honest with you that although they are 100% whole wheat, I am sure that have some things in there that are not great for you…but they are vegan and they are better than the white stuff. Moving on…
Toppings: Here is where the fun starts! I am going to list all of the toppings that I had on hand and then I will list all of the dogs I made from the ideas that the vegan hot dog cart gave me. Ready? Here they are:
- Vegetarian Baked Beans
- Organic Canned Cranberry Sauce
- Diced Green Onions
- Fresh Avocado cut into thin slices
- 2 Organic Green Apples and 2 Organic Celery Stalks, All Diced and combined with the juice from 1/2 of a lemon
- Daiya Mozzarella Shreds
- Organic, high-fructose-free Ketchup
- Dijon Mustard
- Veganaise
- Salt
- Pepper
- Crispy French Onions
Hot Dog Art: The following few suggestions for toppings might seem strange to you, but try it and you WILL NOT be disappointed. Leave me a comment if you think of it after you feed your face with this awesomeness and let me know what you thought!
Holiday-Themed Dog
- Cranberry Sauce
- Crispy French Onions
- Mustard on top
Beanie Weenie
- Baked Beans
- Daiya Cheese
- Fresh Avocado
Sweet Surprise*
- Green Apple/Celery/Lemon Mixture
- Veganaise
- Cranberry Sauce
- Fresh Avocado
*The “Sweet Surprise” was just that folks…a super sweet surprise of tastiness that was my absolute favorite. I had three hot dogs and didn’t feel bloated or like I over-ate…which I totally did. Happy eating!
