New-York-Style Lentil Carrot Hot Dogs (recipe)

These lentil and carrot hot dogs (Veggie Desserts) tick all the boxes, if you’re a fan of New-York style hot dogs, served in finger rolls with fried onions, mustard, gherkins and ketchup. And because they are made with natural ingredients, they are more nutritious and affordable.

Unlike many ‘meaty hot dogs’, these are not ‘rubbery’. So they don’t taste exactly like meat hot dogs, but they are very delicious, all the same!

Avoid sausages for small children and swallowing difficulties (for older children, slice lengthwise and lengthwise again). Keep away from pets due to onion, garlic etc. Read more on food safety for people & pets.

Just bin onion scraps as (like all alliums), acids could harm compost creatures.

All you need to make these hot dogs are carrots, onions, spices (smoked paprika is the ‘must-have ingredient)’, veggie stock (or water) and a little flour.

Most store-bought veggie stocks contain palm oil. So if you can’t find anything suitable, you can just use water. Or make a batch of homemade vegetable stock (from food scraps). This lasts up to a week in the fridge (in a covered container) so good to make soups or pasta sauce.

Once you’ve blended the ingredients, you just form into hot dog shapes, then gently bake, grill or fry. Serve in rolls with your choice of fillings. Leftovers will keep in the fridge (in an airtight container) for a few days.

Most supermarket hot dog rolls are made with palm oil, and sold in plastic packaging. Venture out to an independent baker (or the farmers’ market). And you’ll likely find better quality rolls, made with a few base ingredients by skilled bakers. Take your own cloth bag!

Although it’s good to eat ‘natural foods’ (like lentils), most people like the taste of meat. But in a country of 60 million people, there is not enough land for everyone to eat free-range. So if you don’t want factory farms, it’s necessary for everyone to eat plant-based for at least of the time.