Have you heard about coloring your plate for maximum health benefits? That is, if you have bright colors like green (leafy vegetables/broccoli) and yellow/red (peppers) and white (potatoes/protein), you will have a healthy plate with lots of vitamins and minerals. That’s not always easy or optimal, but today I took a photo of my lunch, which, since I’m dieting, consisted of two fat free turkey hot dogs on white bread with varying condiments.

And after loading up on the colorful condiments, I thought, as my wife would say, that it was a “beautiful plate.” But of course, the colors were funky–neon green sweet relish, like the kind you get in Chicago; light green (sport peppers); red (hot pepper sandwich relish); yellow (chow chow); and dull yellow (spicy horseradish mustard); and light reddish/brown (hot dog); and white (bread). These were healthy versions of Chicago dogs, and while not as healthy as broccoli and sweet peppers, the lunch was not exactly unhealthy either.

So while dieting kind of sucks, it doesn’t have to. And it doesn’t have to have look boring either.

Greetings, fellow food lovers. Last year I did a feature on Grub For Guys on Hot Dogs for July 4 weekend. Being that July 4 is a month away, I’m going to declare Fridays in June Hot Dog Friday and give you a different hot dog recipe each week. But first I will recap the ones I posted last year in that article, and then give you a few new ones for July 4 weekend. First up, the classic Chicago dog:

Basic Chicago Dog
True hot dog fans have tasted Chicago style dogs and not wanted to ever have them another way. Trust me, they are that good. Here is our take, and it may or may not be authentic, but it’s close enough.

Ingredients
4 all-beef hot dogs
4 hot dog buns
Yellow mustard
¼ cup sweet relish (bonus points if you can find that neon green stuff they use in the Windy City)
1 small dill pickle, chopped
½ medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
½ small tomato, seeded and chopped
Pickled jalapenos or skinny pickled chili peppers
Sprinkle of celery salt

Directions
Grill dogs on medium high heat, and about 2 minutes into the cooking time, carefully (and by that, I mean without burning your hands off) cut a sliver down the center of each dog, about halfway through it. Turn every minute or so to avoid burning, then assemble by placing a dog in a bun and topping evenly with remaining ingredients.

Bring on the summertime!