It’s been awhile since I participated in Menu Plan Monday, but that certainly isn’t due to lack of eating. My friend Amy and I have been doing something we call Recipe Roulette and posting about it on Mondays. But it’s all food, right? So I’m putting Menu Plan Monday and Recipe Roulette together. I know. So rebellious.

Apple-Dijon Chicken
This was our Recipe Roulette challenge for the week, and I picked it. I wasn’t crazy about it. With a stronger mustard and more salt, it might have been better. As it was, though, it was pretty bland. Nevertheless, the recipe follows. If you try it, I’d suggest pumping it up a little.

from Good Housekeeping’s “Fast Weeknight Favorites”
4 medium (1 1/4 pounds) skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 Golden Delicious apples, each cored and cut into 6 rings
1 small onion, sliced
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard with seeds
1/3 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Place chicken-breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. With meat mallet or rolling pin, pound breasts to an even 1/2-inch thickness; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper.

In nonstick 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add breasts and cook 6 to 7 minutes or until browned on both sides and chicken loses its pink color throughout, turning over once. Transfer breasts to platter; cover with foil to keep warm.
While chicken is cooking, in glass pie plate, combine apples and onions. Cover with waxed paper and microwave on High 3 to 4 minutes or until tender, stirring once.

To skillet, add apple mixture; cook 2 minutes or until browned. Add chicken broth, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Cook 2 minutes to reduce broth mixture slightly. In bowl, half-and-half with cornstarch; stir into apple mixture with any juices from chicken on platter. Cook 1 minute to thicken sauce slightly.

Boulangerie Beans & Potatoes
This was the last week of our CSA. It was fun trying lots of new vegetables, but I don’t think we’ll do it again next year. We’re out of town too often to take full advantage of regular shipments of fresh food. Next year, we’ll stick to the farmer’s market. But the point I was trying to get to was this: Our last box contained a lot of potatoes. Mark Bittman’s Boulangerie Beans & Potatoes recipe is super easy and tastes great. Also, it’s an excellent excuse for using my slicer attachment. (For the Kitchenaid. It doesn’t actually attach to me. Although that would be boss.)

Mongolian beef
Because I will always love Mongolian beef. And because I have a flank steak in the freezer. This is another Good Housekeeping recipe, but it does not suffer from the blandness. It’s really, really delicious and flavorful.

Red beans & rice
This is another Mark Bittman recipe. The last time I made it (which was also the first time), I made a great big batch of the red beans, portioned them out into freezer bags before cooking the rice and froze them for later meals. Next time, I’m going to make an even bigger batch. Yum. Oh, and I found that the rice cooks a bit more evenly if you make it separately and then stir it all together. That also makes it easier to feed your very picky 4-year-old, who will not eat rice that has touched anything that might resemble a bean.

Pizza
It’ll probably be standard-edition pizza this week. Although I do have a can of refried beans in the pantry, so we might go with Mexican pizza instead. Possibilities? Endless.