HEALTHIER HOT DOG PICNIC WITH NO-SUGAR, LOW PRESERVATIVE RELISH, Triple Duty

American hot dogs are a favourite English picnic food...

first published 2016; updated May 2022

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

...and the English have developed various strategies to enhance the experience.   

Nowadays when healthy eating is all the range, popular frankfurters include high-meat beef or pork, lower-fat chicken or increasingly, vegan dogs.  If you're going the no-meat route, vegetarian frankfurters* which the blogger discovered in Israel are recommended.  In the west we also have high-end vegan frankfurters, developed alongside meatless burgers.

Whatever their origin, frankfurters/hot dogs are best eaten warm.  If you're travelling to a picnic site, 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  (but without dressing and sauces) 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 strong 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.  If travelling, 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 tears if the ketchup/mustrd ends up all over the bag it is carried in!  

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.  Crunchy and zippily flavoured, it's a healthy treat.  There's no or very low sugar and it's almost preservative-free.  The relish is 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 will satisfy sophisticated 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 1.5 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'ish

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.