A confession: My only exposure to the food services industry was working as a busboy at a Bonanza steak house in the mall while I was in high school. One of my favorite dishes was their chicken catalina. I love catalina dressing. This is a cheap and easy way to do chicken. I tried to cook for the first time in a while and I made it with this quicky recipe. Thanks go to:

1. My complete and total lack of talent and cash.
2. Denise for advice and laughs.
3. Liz for leaving some of her cookwear behind (Thanks for the big wok with a handle!)

Here’s the recipe:

2 chicken breasts, boned and split (get the cheap boneless one’s on sale at the Ac-A-Me! 1 pound will do fine for 2 people. If you are a hungry fat ass’d couple, get 1.5 pound for 2 people.)

1/2 pkg. dry onion soup mix (I buy the generic)

6 oz. Catalina salad dressing (Or as much as you can stand. The more the better for my taste. Makes more juice!)

Put chicken in a casserole dish (one of them glass pyrex jobs) which has been sprayed with Pam (or just put some olive oil on a paper towel and rub down the casserole dish).

Sprinkle chicken breasts with 1/2 package dry onion soup mix.

Pour 6 ounces Catalina salad dressing over chicken.

Best if you let this sit for a while to marinate! Makes the chicken taste more Catalina’y. I also chop a handful of nasty stinky white onions into the dish. This makes it more onion’y and clears the sinuses a bit.

Cover (with aluminum “ferrl”) and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes. Good served with rice (the cheap stuff).

Yummo on yer cheap ass’d budget! Note: The catalina juice in the casserole dish is great to yum up the rice a bit!