Chicago Dog Salad

Chicago, my most favorite city. Seriously, I would take it over NYC, San Fran, SoCal, anything. The city is known for so many things: architecture, deep dish pizza, Al Capone, the Magnificent Mile, the Cubbies... However, I like to remember it for its dogs. Chicago dogs, that is.

For the uninitiated, the Chicago dog is hotdog on a poppy-seed bun, topped with mustard, onion, relish, pickles, tomatoes, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt. Perfection. And my absolute favorite treat when visiting the city. When I found a recipe for a Chicago Dog Salad, well, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

This recipe is compliments of Spaz (I love ya Rach, I really do, you just need to drink less coffee, seriously). I adore this recipe because it's a "healthy" version of the original: no bun, and turkey hot dogs. For me it means "no guilt" because yay I'm eating a salad!

And it tastes, amazingly, like a real Chicago dog. I am not kidding, it's just fabulous. I added a few missing ingredients to her recipe (couldn't find a way to work in that relish though). I've made this one 3 times in the past week so for real: I recommend giving this one a try.

Chicago Dog Salad

Ingredients:
1/4 c. yellow mustard
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 rounded tsp. granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
16 oz. shredded cabbage
1 heart of romaine lettuce, shredded
2 vine-ripe tomatoes, diced

Sliced jalapenos or sport peppers (optional)
3 large garlic pickles, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 turkey hot dogs, cut into 1-inch slices on an angle

Celery salt

In a large bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, sugar and 3 tablespoons of the oil. Add the onion, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos (optional), and pickles. Toss well. Season the salad with pepper and a pinch of salt (more to come at the end, so go easy on it). Taste, adjust the seasonings and put aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, then arrange the sliced dogs in a single layer. Sear them for a couple of minutes on each side, turning with tongs.

Mound the salad on plates and top with the seared dogs. Sprinkle with celery salt. Serve.