On the way home from our Costco run yesterday Miles and I decided to put a case of Lunetta and Bud Light on Nautical Jiles. And remarkebly there was no disgusting heat and humidity. It was absolutely gorgeous out! Perfect night to grill out on the docks.

We told everybody we’d be back in an hour. Miles took out the recycling and trash (we just hate doing it after a Sunday Funday) while I ran to Harris Teeter for supplies. I had one hour to devise a menu, shop, chop, and be back to the docks. I moved quickly. I grabbed flowers, pre-cut watermelon, Lay’s salt and vinegar chips, Harris Teeter’s pre-made macaroni salad, and all the ingredients for Garden Dogs.

My Garden Dogs are inspired by Chicago Dogs.  The lay person may look at a picture of a Chicago Dog and a Garden Dog and think they are the same thing. They are not. People are very sensitive about what actually constitutes a Chicago Dog — the hotdog needs to be steamed not grilled, neon green relish, etc.  Very sensitive. So while my creation is inspired by Chicago Dogs, the Garden Dog is totally different than the totality of the Chi-Town Dog.

Garden Dogs have slices of cucumber and tomatoes flanking the hotdog. Then organic dill relish, yellow mustard, and a couple pinches of celery salt sprinkled on top. They’re delish, easy to assemble, a bit unique, and make for a pretty presentation.

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Garden Dogs

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 dogs) hot dogs
• 1 package (8 buns) hot dog buns (I like the Pepperidge Farm split top buns)
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced then cut in half
• 1-2 tomatoes, thinly sliced then cut in half
• dill relish (Harris Teeter Organic)
• yellow mustard (French's Organic)
• celery salt (McCormick Organic)

Instructions

Cooking . . .

1. Have your husband and his friends grill the hot dogs and buns ;-).

Assembly . . .

1. To build the Garden Dogs. Place hot dog in the bun. Repeat with the other dogs and buns. 

2. Put one slice of cucumber along side of the dog and a slice of tomato next to that. On the opposite side place the tomato then the cucumber. The goal is to have a cucumber and tomato in every bite and I think it makes for a better presentation to have them alternating. Repeat. 

3. Spoon the dill relish on top of the hotdog. I use a plastic spoon on the docks and put two heaping spoonfuls on each dog. Repeat.

4. Add mustard to taste. I like a healthy amount. Repeat. 

5. Sprinkle on the Celery Salt to taste. It usually comes out strong so I sprinkle it into the palm of my hand, pinch it, and sprinkle. I do about two pinches per dog.

Recipe Notes

You can serve one Garden Dog per person or, if you're among close friends in a casual setting, cut them in half so they feel more like sliders.

Enjoy! xxx

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