Catalina Chicken

This four-ingredient recipe has been a part of my handwritten recipe stash for the past 15 years or so.  It was given to me by a co-worker, Phyllis M. when we worked at an insurance agency together.  A group of us used to get together at lunch time and laugh and laugh, sharing  observations, wild tales, and good humored teasing. The one thing that drew us together was our love of good food; there always seemed to be something delicious in the employee kitchen that someone had brought in to share.

Phyllis shared this simple recipe that she served her family or friends who are like family.   It is made with typical pantry items, it's quick and delicious.  The sauce is sweet-tangy, and it makes a lot.  I think rice might be a better choice to help absorb some of this delicious gravy.  This dish could be put together ahead of time and refrigerated until you wanted to bake it, but really, it only takes minutes to open up several ingredients, combine and stir, then bake.

And the good news...Ole Sweetie-Pi liked this!  I think it's only because he didn't see the can of cranberry sauce, first, though, or otherwise I would have to have endured another long, pained expression, grins.  

Catalina Chicken

4 large chicken breasts, split, or a combination of  10 thighs and legs)
1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix
1 small bottle of Catalina salad dressing **
1 16-ounce can cranberries (whole or sauced, you decide)

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Have ready a baking dish large enough to hold the ingredients, I used a 7 x 11 inch, and it was plenty big enough.

Place the chicken in the baking dish.  In a separate bowl, mix the onion soup, Catalina salad dressing, and can of cranberries together.  Pour over chicken..  Bake for about one hour, or until chicken is done.

**I'm not sure how many ounces a "small bottle" of Catalina dressing is.  My grocer's only had a large bottle labeled  "50% more free".   I measured out 1 cup of the dressing, tasted the mixture (before pouring it on the chicken!) and it was fine.

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