Deliciously healthy hot dogs for holiday BBQ

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- With the unofficial start of summer this weekend, you're likely to see hot dogs on a lot of barbecue grills. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates that Americans will eat more than 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

For your upcoming holiday barbecue, here are ways you can dress up your dog to make it deliciously healthy.

At The Slaw Dogs restaurant, founder Ray Byrne shares details about his popular "TNT Dog."

"A foot-long Vienna Beef hot dog, and then we actually add our all-beef-beer chili to it," said Byrne. "Then we add some bacon and then we add some pastrami and then we add a little cheddar cheese and then we add some grilled onions, fried egg."

Topped with French fries and wrapped up in a giant tortilla, to the tune of 1,700 calories -- a day's worth for many of us.

"If you were, like, herding cattle, you could probably afford it," said Byrne.

But beyond this food felony, Byrne shows us loads of other options to enjoy a healthier hot dog.

Starting with the pup itself. Hot dogs are made from turkey, fish, veggie -- there's even a skinny Vienna beef dog that's just 135 calories.

Eleven different kinds of dogs, 60 different toppings and 10 signature slaw dogs. You really can have it your way.

Actually, the Caltech students who frequent his Pasadena location did the math on all the possibilities.

"They made a formula and they discovered you can have over 47 quintillion different combinations of hot dogs," said Byrne.

Byrne suggests a skinny Vienna dog on lettuce wrap with mustard, relish, chopped tomatoes, peppers and onions.

Or a turkey dog with curry ketchup, sauerkraut, jalapeno and pico de gallo.

For fish lovers, try yours with a cabbage slaw with pickled habaneros, topped with Greek yogurt.

Meat-free fan? Try a veggie dog with even more veggies, topped with avocado.

Hot dog dynamics are simple: Pick a protein, add your toppings and something to wrap it in. Romaine leaf, tortilla, whole wheat or gluten-free buns, all easy to come by.