Hot Dogs with Tomato Avocado Relish

My friend Beth and I are a little addicted to avocados.  It’s not even a new thing, but it certainly falls right in line with clean eating, so I have zero guilt about it.  If I have to have an addiction (and Nick and I were just talking about good addictions tonight), I think this is an excellent one to have.  Hellooooo Good Fat!

“I think I need an avocado intervention,” she said last week.  Nothing doin’.  I’m not giving up avocados, and I don’t think she is any time soon either.  But avocados on hot dogs?  Yep, why not?

When The Ex has the kids on his weekends, I always ask Nick what he wants for dinner when they come home on Sunday nights.  Sometimes he lets me choose and doesn’t want anything in particular.  Sometimes he’s very specific about what he wants.  Even though he had hot dogs over the weekend, he wanted them again Sunday night when they came home.  And I wanted them too.  But could I really make them so I could eat them without feeling guilt?

These days, while I work my own little program, I don’t want to deprive myself too much, because I think that’s one of the surest ways to hop on Failure Road.  Instead, I try to think of ways to get creative and have what I want, but in a retooled way, in an effort to absolve myself of all the guilt.  Or most of it anyway.  And so it was with these hot dogs.

For starters, I used whole wheat hot dog buns.  Let’s face it.  There’s little difference in the taste and it’s so much better for you.  White bread = bad.  And then all natural hot dogs.  Next I decided I wanted to get some vegetables into the mix, but how?   I didn’t want to go the usual route of something like caramelized onions and sauteed or grilled peppers.  I wanted to keep it fresh.  Light.  Summery.  I ended up creating a recipe for a Tomato Avocado Relish and it was just the ticket.  Full of all the goodness that summer offers us with the juicy red ripe tomatoes and the fresh-from-the-garden basil.  Buttery, creaminess from the diced avocados.  A teeniest pinch of heat from the dash of hot sauce.  Something that you totally wouldn’t have thought to put up on the top of a hot dog, but after you try it, there’s no going back.

So the message?  You can have have your cake and eat it too.  Or in this case, your hot dog.  Kids were happy.  I was happy.  Dinner doesn’t get better than that.

Project 365
August 16, 2010, Photo #147

It seems only fitting that with yesterday being the one year anniversary of being back in this house, today’s photo of the day features something from our neighborhood.  It never fails.  Every time we come around the corner, on our way home from the gym or wherever else, the sky is doing something incredibly beautiful and I kick myself for not having my camera with me.  This time, we went home, got the camera and came back out.  Of course, the original formations in the sky were gone in the five minutes that it took to get home, get the camera and get back on the road (the sun was peeking through some thunder clouds and making these gorgeous streaks in the sky), but we’ll settle for this beautiful sunset instead.

Tomato Avocado Relish
Recipe courtesy of Cate O’Malley

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh basil, rough chopped
1 small shallot, finely diced
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
juice of one whole lemon
1 avocado, diced
dash of hot sauce
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, basil, shallots, garlic, hot sauce and lemon and lime juice.   Gently fold in the tomatoes and avocados, being careful as you mix so the avocados don’t get mushy.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve on top of your hot dog.  Also tastes great on a tortilla chip too!