Every year I serve the same old same chopped salad with grilled chicken and meatballs in a bread bowl as quickie meals when the weather starts to get a bit chilly.

While not truly boring, they are, nonetheless, predictable, and I’ve come to have a love-hate relationship with these recipes. I decided to buck the tradition and reinvent the start to my fall meals.

This being said, I’m not going to go totally off the rails and serve something wildly outside the realm of my time constraints of work, writing, laundry and beauty sleep (not that I need it, according to my very blind but loving husband), but rather I’m turning to the deli roll and knish to serve as a reminder that different is still delicious.

For those not familiar with a deli roll or knish, a deli roll in its simplest form is a sheet of puff pastry typically slathered with sweet or savory mustard wrapped around corned beef, pastrami, turkey or a combination of these meats or vegetables, rolled up jelly roll style, baked and served with extra mustard.

A knish is the name given to a baked or fried dumpling – dough wrapped around a savory potato, meat, onions, kasha, or vegetable filling.

For those with a vegan or vegetarian in the house, substitute grilled eggplant, portabella mushrooms or any and all assorted combinations of mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables for the meat in any of the recipes.

Filo Deli Roll

1 onion, sliced

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

12 to 14 sheets of filo dough

4 tablespoons yellow mustard

2 tablespoons Dijon seeded mustard

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 pound sliced salami

1/4 pound sliced turkey

1 egg yolk

In a skillet, sauté the onion and brown sugar in the oil until onion is soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease it very well. Place 6 to 7 sheets of filo on a work surface. Spread 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard and 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard on top of the filo dough – just make sure to leave about 1 inch around the edges.

Place 1/2 of the salami and 1/2 of the turkey on top of the mustards, then drizzle the honey over the top of the meat. Place 1/2 of the sautéed onions on one end of the dough. Start to roll the dough from the end with the onions. The seam side should be placed on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.

Brush the top with the beaten egg yolk and sprinkle the sesame seeds on the top. Cut 3 or 4 slits in the top of the roll to allow the steam from the filling to escape. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden.

Serves 8 to 10 depending on the size of the pieces you cut. This recipe can be doubled or tripled.

Classic Potato Knish

Dough:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup oil or schmaltz

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/3 to 1/2 cup water

Filling:

3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and quartered, boiled until soft

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon margarine or butter

1 medium onion, diced small

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon water

For the dough: In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, vinegar and water. Whisk to combine, then add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients in the other bowl. Mix to combine.

Once the mixture is combined, dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it becomes smooth, 2 or 3 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover it and refrigerate it at least 1 hour but no more than two days.

For the filling: Place the cooked potatoes in a large bowl. Heat the butter and oil in a skillet and add the onions. Cook, over a medium heat, stirring frequently for about 25 to 30 minutes and they are caramelized. Add the onions to the bowl with the potatoes and smash them all together. Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with sides with parchment paper.

Divide the dough in half. On a well-floured surface, roll the first half of the dough into a thin sheet, 12-inches-by-12-inches square. Spoon a 2-inch-thick log of potato filling across the bottom of the dough square.

Roll up jelly roll style, making sure it’s not too tight. Roll so that the filling has been wrapped twice. Tuck or trim the ends. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

Cut each log in half and then each of the halves into halves again. Pinch closed one side of each piece to form the bottom of the knish. Slightly flatten the knish and place it on the parchment paper on the cookie sheet. You can pinch the top closed as well (if you prefer) but make sure there is enough of an opening to allow the steam from the filling to escape.

In a bowl, combine the egg and the water and whisk. Brush the top of the knish with the mixture and bake 40 to 45 minutes, until golden. Makes 8.

This recipe can be doubled or tripled and you can make them smaller.