With a new school year just around the bend, it’s time for the 2014 edition of Paleo Lunchboxes—my annual collaboration with our friends at LunchBots. And this time around, I’m presenting 7—that’s right, SEVEN—new ideas to jumpstart your creative engines.
These lunchbox ideas are great for your school-age spawn, but trust me: the meals in this series aren’t just kid stuff. In fact, this first one’s a fast and satisfying lunch you can eat with your bare hands. Plus: we’re talking HOT DOGS.
Fine. They’re not technically “Paleo™,” but I’ve got nothing against convenience foods that are made from wholesome, healthy ingredients. Most hot dogs on the market are filled with all sorts of chemical additives and cast-off CAFO animal parts—we should all avoid these freaky franken-weenies like the plague. There are, however, other options.
Hot dogs have always been a kid-friendly favorite, but I recently hopped onto the bandwagon in a big way after discovering Flame to Fork’s game-changing idea to use the wiener as the “bun” (a.k.a. #hotdogasthebun) on Instagram.
Since then, I’ve been playing around with different fillings every time I make hot dogs for the kids. (The best thing about using the wiener as the “shell”? Sneaking extra veggies into your kiddos’ bellies!) Unlike hot dogs on bread buns, you can assemble ’em the night before; they won’t get soggy, and they taste great cold. Or maybe I’m just a weirdo for loving cold hot dogs.
Personally, I like hot dogs piled high with sautéed peppers and onions or kraut and pickles, so for this lunchbox, I made both. Properly cooked onions take a while to sauté, so I always start them in the skillet over medium heat with my favorite cooking fat before I do anything else.
Once the onions are translucent (about 15 minutes), add julienned bell peppers to the skillet, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook until the peppers are pliable, and then dish the sautéed veggies onto a platter. Don’t forget to wipe out your cast iron skillet.
Next, prepare your hotdogs by slicing them in half lengthwise, making sure that you don’t cut all the way through.
Add a little dollop of cooking fat into the hot skillet and sear the dogs cut-side down until golden-brown (~3 minutes) and flip them over to cook the other side (~2 minutes). When your wieners are nice and toasty (heh heh), stuff them with your veggie fillings.
Don’t want to go to the trouble of sautéing peppers and onions? Simply fill your hot dogs with your favorite sauerkraut and pickles.
Once the hotdogs are cool, you can nestle each one on a leaf of romaine lettuce so that they’re less messy to eat by hand.
…and some fruits and blanched veggies, and you’re good to go!
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