Cucumber-Cream Cheese Pinwheels

I was notified late Friday night that we (I) needed to make an appetizer for James' company party on Saturday afternoon. These were easy to throw together at the semi-last minute, and fun to make. They were a big hit, and I am proud to say there were no leftovers.

Ingredients:

16-oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 lb thin-sliced deli turkey
1 package tortillas
1 cucumber (or 2 cups diced)

Plan ahead to leave cream cheese out of refrigerator for an hour or two before you start. Use fresh, soft tortillas that will not break when you roll them up.

Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on one tortilla, covering with at least an 1/8-inch layer right up to the edges. Sprinkle diced cucumber over the tortilla, covering less than 50 percent of the cream cheese.

Add a thin layer of turkey, ensuring to leave areas of cream cheese peeking through so the ingredients will stick together when you roll up the tortilla.

Starting at one edge, roll the tortilla and all filling very tightly until entire tortilla is rolled up. Repeat these directions until you have used all of the cream cheese and/or tortillas. I used two different flavors/colors of tortilla to make it look pretty, so I only used half of each package.

Wrap 2 to 3 tortilla rolls together in aluminum foil, making sure they stay tightly rolled. Refrigerate for at least one hour before slicing. After an hour, use a very sharp non-serrated knife to slice each roll into 1/2-inch slices. Do not saw at the tortilla with your knife or it will come unrolled.

Each tortilla makes about 8 pinwheels. The inch to two inches at the end of each tortilla are not nice enough looking to serve at a party, so I set these parts aside for pre-party snacks.

References:

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/fast-recipes/turkey-wrap-with-cucumber-cream-cheese

Cucumber Salad

This recipe was inspired by a local restaurant, Istanbul Grill (http://www.grillistanbul.com/), that makes a delicious cucumber salad. We often order takeout from this restaurant for lunch at work. Istanbul Grill has an incredible vegetarian menu that has given me lots of ideas for vegetarian recipes. This is my personal take on the Turkish cucumber salad.

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers, peeled and cubed

1 cup tomatoes, cubed

1 red pepper

1 avocado

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced

6 ounces plain fat-free greek yogurt (1 small container)

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 T olive oil

1 t salt

*The traditional cucumber salad also includes one diced red onion, but I am not the biggest fan of raw onion, so I left it out.

This recipe is best made with all fresh ingredients. The crispiness of the fresh vegetables is one of it's best features. Chop cucumbers, tomatoes, and red pepper into similar-sized small pieces/cubes. Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Being careful not to slice through the skin, slice a checkerboard pattern into each half of the avocado. Remove avocado from the skin using a large spoon, and you should end up with pieces about the same size as your other cubed vegetables. Mix cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, and avocado together in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine parsley, cilantro, yogurt, vinegar, olive oil, and salt, and mix well. Today I used a jalapeno balsamic vinegar from Great Lakes Olive Oil company, a store in Frankenmuth, Michigan, that has a wide variety of delicious flavored olive oils and vinegars. I LOVE this company, and I'm sure you'll hear me mention them again. See http://www.greatlakesoliveoil.com/ if you are interested in more information.

Add yogurt and spice mixture to veggies and mix well until all pieces of vegetables are coated in yogurt. This salad can be eaten plain, or in a tasty wrap with falafel, hummus, and/or your favorite meat. When I am eating meat, I like to add it to a doner kebab (similar to a gyro) from the restaurant mentioned above.