Jody's Colorful, Fresh Cilantro & Cream Cheese Pinwheels

The freshness will delight you...cream cheese, cilantro, red & yellow bell peppers, green onion, black olives, and green chilis...packing flavor in every bite. 

A good friend and wife to my Uncle Danny shared this recipe for cream cheese pinwheels. Actually, I added it to the WKY Community Living website a year or so ago but hadn't made it myself. After tasting the flavors and witnessing the ease of the recipe, it's on my list of favorite pool party snacks. 

Jody and my uncle live in Florida. Oh, how horrible it must be for them. All that sunshine, warm temps, and the ocean. Let's breathe in the air again before saying the word 'ocean'. There aren't many who want to spend all day in the kitchen if your patio view is a white, sandy beach or the deep canals of the Florida waterways. Either way...it's a little slice of paradise. 

The cream cheese pinwheel works for several occasions. One is a quick snack. The most time-consuming part of the recipe is waiting for the cream cheese to soften. This little problem is solved by buying soft cream cheese. For this recipe, I did buy the Philadelphia eight-ounce stick of cheese. I let it sit outside of the refrigerator for an hour before using it in the recipe. 

The veggies were quick and easy to chop.  Rolling up the cream cheese in the tortilla was the most fun. I felt like I was making sushi. As mentioned, making this recipe for snacks is great. However, a meal could be made. Simply add bacon, ham, or any preferred deli meat to the mix and you've got a dinner. 

Jody suggested having your favorite salsa on hand as a dipping sauce. My husband and I really like the medium-hot Arriba Roasted Red Salsa. It's available at Midtown Market in Paducah. I'm sure it's more widely available than I realize. Check it out online. Here we go!

Chop the fresh veggies

Mix all together

Evenly distribute

Spread mix to outer edge

Wrap and rest

Slice it up

Ingredients:
Four large tortilla-filled pinwheels. For eight tortillas, double the ingredients.
Eight ounces of softened cream cheese
One cup of shredded, sharp cheddar cheese
Four green onions, chopped
Bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
Small can of black olives, chopped and drained
Two-ounce can of green chilis
Large burrito-size tortillas

​Directions: 
After chopping and waiting for the cream cheese to soften, mix all ingredients together. Spread equal portions of the mixture on each burrito-size tortilla. Roll up. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour in the refrigerator. Cut 1/2" to 3/4" slices. A pinwheel design will emerge. Eat by themselves or serve with your favorite salsa.