Catalina salad dressing by Kraft is not the same as French dressing, no matter what anyone says.


Catalina Mellows My Salad

Kraft makes use of a tomato essence to bring a rich, sweet flavor to this Catalina dressing. You'll find no mustard here, the key ingredient to the small kick you'll find in French dressings. This is not the "new French" or simply "red French". This is Catalina, pure and simple and it's not creamy in the least. This dressing sits between creamy and thin -- having corn syrup base with starches mixed in for thickening alongside the tomato paste. A little vinegar goes a long way to add the bit of vim you'll want to have in your salad, and of course, there are spices -- mysterious spices and onion.

There's no bit to Catalina dressing, but a little tang mixed with the sweet tomato and a twinge of spicy flavor that just makes it "flavorful", not "spicy".

Big differences in these words. If you're a fan of salad dressings you know just what I mean.


In Case You Wonder ...

The nutritional information on Kraft Catalina isn't surprising. No cholesterol (yippee!), 12 carbs (not so good for those of us watching our carbohydrate intake), 2 grams of fat (neither of them saturated) and 60 calories per 2 Tbsp. serving.

These numbers are pretty good, as salad dressings go. Many others spike the calorie content and others drive up the saturated fat on you. When covering your greens with this kind of flavor you don't want to end up in the dog house health-wise due to salad dressing decision-making!

Looking for Lite? You can find it at Kraft, but this version is as light as I plan to go. I'd rather have the fat than the sugar, but that choice is up to you.



Flavor -- It's in There

Kraft Catalina dressing makes a terrific salad topper, mixing easily and not too heavily with whatever salad fixings you like to use.

Tomato flavor, sweetness and the "usual suspect" spices, a bit of vinegar for oomph and thickeners, which may or may not be entirely necessary, but Kraft finds them important to the concoction.

And this stuff does more than dress a salad.

Toss 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves in a baking dish, pour a half-bottle of Catalina over them and bake. Thirty to forty minutes later you have your main dish. Serve a vegetable and a salad (also dressed with Catalina) and you're ready to sit down to eat.

ENJOY!







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