HEALTHIER PICNICS: HOT DOGS WITH NO-SUGAR VEGAN RELISH, Low preservative, Easy

American hot dogs have become a favourite English picnic food...

A hot dog picnic with Make-ahead Easy No/low Sugar Homemade Relish
Photo shows Tivali veggie dogs in Light wholemeal Spelt rolls. 

first posted 2016

...and the English have developed various strategies to enhance their enjoyment. 

Nowadays when healthy eating is all the range, high-meat beef or pork frankfurters are popular, as are lower-fat chicken or increasingly, vegan franks.  Vegetarian frankfurters* which the blogger discovered in Israel are recommended but in the west, high-end vegan frankfurters are apparently being developed alongside increasingly popular meatless burgers.

Whatever their origin, frankfurters/hot dogs are best eaten warm.  Try these methods:  

• place the dogs in wide-mouthed thermoses and cover with hot - not boiling - water; drain at the picnic site OR
• wrap the frankfurters in buns and then in foil packets.  To prevent burning, wrap in tea towels before placing them on the car engine while travelling to the picnic site 
• cook over a campfire; load a young branch with the dogs and grill over the flames (it's probably best to have jumbo dogs for this)

Traditionally, hot dogs are served with a strip of mustard, a strip of ketchup and maybe some onions fried in butter.  Fill separate squeezy bottles (from Nisbetts & department stores) with mustard and ketchup and cover the tops with cling film before screwing on the lid to prevent spills during travelling.   

Many varieties of relish - red or green - are available at various prices but most are high in sugar and additives.  

67goingon50's easy colourful, tasty hot dog relish is not.  It's a healthy treat -- tasty, crunchy and zippily flavoured -  but either no-or-low in sugar and almost preservative-free.  The relish is very easy to put together; an older child with good knife skills could do it under supervision. (Always have a first aid kit in the kitchen!)  

The recipe does use store-bought sweet & sour pickles but not in huge quantities.  To make your own, go to Faff-free Dill Pickles, which take only a few minutes to make and 3 days to 'cook'.    

67's relish the relish is a sophisticated condiment for adults. For kids being weaned off high levels of sugar, it's ok to add half a tablespoon of maple syrup. The chillis and mustard could also be reduced.  The recipe makes 1 1/2 cups; preparing two batches won't be a burden.  

Any leftovers can be teamed with chicken or cheese with a little yoghurt-mayo for a great sandwich filling.

The relish can be made in advance and keeps 3-5 days in the fridge.   

Cost: £2.00

Makes1.5 cups

Ingred:
   5 cherry tomatoes or equiv, in small dice
   3/4 tsp tomato puree, preferably low-salt
   small red chilli, de-seeded, in fine dice OR 1/2 tsp chilli flakes  
   1/2 cup bell pepper, pref green or yellow, in small dice
   1/3 cup dill pickle  (2 med in small dice)
   1/3 cup drained corn niblets
   1 tbsp wholegrain mustard

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients thoroughly; add cracked black pepper to taste 
2. Store in a wide-mouthed air-tight container in the fridge 3-5 days

*Tivali

Tips:

• Hot dog buns/finger rolls are sold at most UK supermarkets at good prices; pick up more than you need when they're on offer - they freeze well

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This recipe has been developed by B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and can not be reproduced without the author's written permission.