Peppery Pinwheels

I’m not a bento-box ninja, turning veggies into flowers with the flick of a knife, but I do like food to be pretty. As long as I don’t have to work too hard to get it there. 🙂 This recipe couldn’t be much easier. It makes a wonderful main dish for school or work lunches and is also a good appetizer or after-school snack.

Peppery Pinwheels

Allow 2-3 Tablespoons of cream cheese (dairy or vegan) and one tortilla (the rectangular ones are the easiest to use, the colorful ones are the prettiest) to come to room temperature. Finely dice two mini sweet peppers of different colors. (At Christmastime, use full-size red and green peppers and up the amount of cheese and tortillas to make a whole tray of pinwheels for a party!)

Spread the cream cheese evenly over the tortilla, as far out to the edges as you can manage. Sprinkle the pepper bits all over the cheese. Roll the lot into a tube, secure it with a tie or wrap with waxed paper, and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. When chilled, cut the tube into 1/2 inch slices. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until serving the slices flat to show off their pin-wheeliness.

So cute. So easy. And, the variations are endless. If you don’t have peppers handy, throw on some raisins, diced dates, craisins, diced dried apricots etc. Or, if you don’t have cream cheese in the house, substitute hummus dotted with raisins and grated carrots. Or use nut butter and something fruity.

As long as the tube is properly chilled before slicing, the pinwheels should stick together nicely on their own. If you are having a party, or you are a bento ninja, skewer with pretty wooden or reusable toothpicks. Enjoy!