I wonder if a hot dog is just yummy enough food that kids will love it anyways. The strategy you linked says the backup food has to be something bland. I assume that's so that if they really hate the meal they have an alternative, but at some point they'll get bored of the cheese/yogurt/tofu and decide to have a crack at the actual meal.

All I remember is that my mother tried to feed me all sorts of wacky stuff, and I ate it. When I was really little, a little of everything my parents were eating went into the food grinder for me. There were, according to my mother, a few phases where I would only eat one category of food, such as green things, orange things, meat, etc.