Eating the Americas - Panchos

We had technical difficulties interrupting our Eating the Americas project recently. Most notably, our oven was not working correctly, so anything that needed to be baked or roasted had to be scrapped from the menu or at least postponed. Before I gave up entirely on my oven, we did try Sopa Paraguaya, which is the national dish of Paraguay. I used a recipe from Global Table Adventure called Paraguayan Cheesy Cornbread/Sopa Paraguaya that combined Sopa Paraguaya with another popular South American bread - Chipa Guasu. This cornbread has lots of cheese, lots of corn, and some onions and peppers, and is a great accompaniment to soup, stew or chili. My hubby and I enjoyed it, but the kids weren't sold. Here's the thing - we are used to the type of cornbread generally served with barbecue in the southern states. Very sweet and moist. So calling something cornbread that is savory and laden with veggies went against our instincts. I should have never referred to it as cornbread! LOL I had to adjust my expectations of "cornbread" before taking my first bite.


But the dish I am sharing today is something super-simple that might also challenge our expectations. The Uruguayan version of hot dogs! This idea also came from Global Table Adventure. These dogs are known as "panchos" and what sets them apart is the toppings. Think hot dogs and taco bar combined and you'll have the general idea. Pancho stands in Uruguay offer a variety of toppings including corn, cheese, relish, and salsa; and something called 'salsa golf' which is pretty much mayo and ketchup combined.

We made our own salsa golf by stirring together equal amounts of mayo and ketchup. Easy!



I got some extra-long all-beef dogs (for a pancho, the meat should extend past the bun on both ends!) and grilled them. No oven necessary - perfect! Then we sat down at the table with our dogs and our selection of toppings and enjoyed our quick and easy Uruguayan meal. The combination I liked was corn, cheese, and salsa golf, but I think I should have put relish on too. Just for the color. Who knew corn on a hot dog would be so good? A little messy to eat, perhaps, but it worked!

I wish I'd thought of this when my kids were little. I bet I would have had more success getting them to eat their veggies if they were on a hot dog. Then again... I can't picture this working with green beans or broccoli. Hmmm.

This post is linked at Try a New Recipe Tuesday, hosted by Lisa at Home to 4 Kiddos.

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This post was added to the Throwback Thursday Blog-Style link-up hosted by Tots and Me... Growing Up Together! on November 19, 2015.

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