ItaliSoy Chicken

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Ah, ItaliSoy Chicken ... yum. I learned this recipe from my stepmother. She used to make this marinade and plop pork chops in it, but I'm partial to its use with boneless skinless chicken breasts instead (probably because I don't eat pork so much ...). I think there may have been measurements when she started, but I neither like nor often pay attention to those kinds of things while cooking and have as such lost them along the way somewhere. If it isn't too weird, I honestly judge it by the color. If it's too light, more of one thing. If it's too dark, more of the other. It is a big ole complicated recipe with it's ... two ingredients.

The Starting Line Up

Uh, yea, that's right ... it's Italian salad dressing (oil based, not cream) and good ole whatever kind you have soy sauce. You couldn't tell from the witty name? It doesn't really have a name here, except sometimes we call it (my step mom's name)'s Chicken. I had to come up with some way to label it for you fine people ... hilariously to the point, right?

On an aside, please just use whatever ingredients you have on hand. Really, we don't use that many name brand ingredients unless I get them for nearly free (at least cheaper than the generic), so please do not be persuaded otherwise by the picture. You can use whatever kinds of these items you have. Honestly, once while desperate, I tore open what seems like 184 of those little take out packets because we didn't have any other soy sauce in the house. Now, we buy it en mass (and fill the little bottle for the upstairs fridge) because I have finally learned my lesson. You can even change the kind of salad dressing as long as it is oil based and has some acid and some spices in it. Then, of course, you'll have to change the name ... ahaha.

The Game Plan

I tried to measure as I went this time so "mix it until it turns caramel colored" didn't have to appear in my recipe post. From what I can tell, you'll need 1 and 1/2 cups of salad dressing to 1/4 cup of soy sauce. You can increase or decrease the amount based on how much meat you need to cover, but that ratio should be pretty close to magic. I put it in a little bowl and use my super cool wisk so it mixes together well (and so I have an excuse to continue owning a fancy wisk). It should be approximately a shade darker than the one in the picture as the flash on my camera kind of washed out the depth when I took the above shot.

The End Result

Oh, pretty marinading chicken ... how yummy you will be. If the chicken looks a little awkward, it's because it's still frozen solid. I had to beat the bag against the floor to knock the pieces apart. Frozen or fresh, it works just the same. I just dump the marinade over, cover the bowl, and let it hang out in the fridge overnight. Other times, I let it marinade for as long as it takes to walk from the kitchen, down the stairs, to the grill outside our basement walk out (this happens more often than the other, honestly). See all those little bits of spicy tasty goodness? Yes! That is why salad dressing is the coolest marinade base in the world! There's no need to buy fancy special "marinades". Psh. Salad dressing = perfect.

The Play By Play

1.5 Cups Italian Salad Dressing
+
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
+
Fancy Wisk
(ok, or just a fork ...)
+
Chicken, pork, fish or your choice
=
Yum!