My husband was really reluctant when I mentioned that I had planned carrot hot dogs for one of the meal for that week. He isn’t much of a carrot fan, but I decided that I really wanted to give it a try anyway. What was the verdict? He really liked them! We both felt that you can’t really tell that it’s really carrots and not hot dogs unless you are eating a really large chunk. Just be sure that your carrots aren’t like 2 inches thick like a few of ours were and you’ll be just fine! We even joked about how we need to have a 4th of July party this next summer and make all of our non-vegan friends our carrot-dogs and some bean burgers!
I found the recipe over on kidtestedfirefighterapproved.com and made minimal changes.
- 4 carrots
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- a couple squirts of liquid smoke (I used mesquite flavored)
- pepper to taste
- whole wheat hot dog buns
- Cut your carrots so they are the length of your hot dog buns and if they are too thick (bigger than 1½"),you need to split them in half as well.
- Place a large pot on the stove and heat to a boil. Add your carrots and heat for about 10 minutes or until you can just get your fork into them. Don't over cook them though because you want them to have a slight firmness to be like regular hot-dogs.
- Strain the carrots and run cold water over them to stop the cooking process.
- mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and place in a zip-lock baggy along with your cooked carrots. Let them marinate for 3-4 hours (or up to 2 days).
- Once the marinating time is up, place your carrots either in a heated oven or in your toaster oven that has been heated to 350. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until they are fully heated. You could probably also heat them on a grill if you desired that look/flavor.
- Add your toppings and they're ready to eat!
I sauteed some onions and had ketchup and mustard on top of our carrot hot-dogs.
What are your favorite toppings for hot dogs and burgers?
Enjoy!
Kristin
