Want to learn my favorite new party trick? Turn everyday ingredients into artwork you can eat. A real party showstopper. These gorgeous rainbow veggie pinwheels will impress your guests, please all palates, and make you feel like the Picasso of Produce!
Even better? They’re easy to make, easy to serve, and easy to clean up. Gawd, I love easy.
My party planning skills are limited, to be honest. Planning anything in detail goes completely against my off-the-cuff nature. Life is wayyyy more exciting when you’re not sure what’s next 🙂
However, in the name of responsibility – and because people were counting on me – I was intent on planning a decent party for my son’s high school graduation. Fun, fabulous, and filling food, of course – yet, food that did not require me to be in the kitchen much at all.
All hail finger foods!
Finger foods, made (and also purchased) ahead of time and in large quantities, made for a low-stress day for this hostess. Forty folks happily devoured mini cupcakes, calzones, watermelon, cheese and pepperoni, and plenty of veggies and hummus.
The Rainbow Veggie Pinwheels, however, turned out to be the eye-popping center of attention. Word quickly spread of their deliciousness and they disappeared soon after. I just didn’t anticipate that kind of reaction. I should’ve made several dozen, but, alas, I misjudged their awesomeness and they were gone before I knew it. Lesson learned!
I filled mine with a savory ranch-inspired cream cheese, along with baby spinach, purple cabbage, cucumber, asparagus, and yellow, red, and orange bell peppers, and asparagus.
You can easily switch it up with other veggies like celery sticks, baby corn, carrot sticks, green beans, or purple onion. Stick-shaped pieces work best – in other words, save those plump cherry tomatoes for a different app, like this tasty guacamole and bacon appetizer. Get creative and clean out your produce drawer all at once!
The Simple How-To Instructions to Make Rainbow Veggie Pinwheels
I’ve included a full recipe below, with everything you’ll need to make mine exactly as I did. But for those adventurous food-assemblers out there, all you need to know are the 4 basic steps to making these Rainbow Veggie Pinwheels:
1) Prep and slice a variety of veggies
2) Spread cream cheese onto a flour tortilla
3) Arrange rows of vegetables on top of the cream cheese
4) Roll up tightly and slice into pinwheels.
That’s it! Easy peasy and you’ll be serving up rainbows to all your faves before you know it.
Speaking of serving up rainbows, here are some of my fave shots of actual rainbows in the past few months:
Happy snacking! Now excuse me while I go hug my kid endlessly for the rest of the summer.
Rainbow Veggie Pinwheels with Savory Cream Cheese
These beautiful and delicious Rainbow Veggie Pinwheels come together quickly. They're filled with a ranch-inspired cream cheese and colorful veggies. Easy!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup cream cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried drill
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt *or to taste
- 1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives optional
- 2 flour tortillas, 9" round
- purple cabbage thinly sliced
- baby spinach leaves
- bell pepper strips red, yellow, orange
- cucumber sticks 3"-4" long
- asparagus spears **blanched and cooled
Instructions
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If you're including asparagus in your recipe, I recommend blanching them first: add cleaned, trimmed asparagus spears to boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain immediately and plunge into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking effect. Leave in ice water while you go on to next step.
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In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, onion powder, dried drill, garlic salt, and chives. Stir well until completely combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
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Drain and dry the asparagus spears.
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Arrange all the prepped vegetables on the counter/work surface.
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Lay a flour tortilla on a cutting board. Spread about half of the cream cheese evenly over the surface of the tortilla, almost out to the edges.
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Starting about one inch from the edge, arrange the vegetables in rows across the cream cheese. Leave about 1" open and free of vegetables at each end. Starting at one of those ends, roll the tortilla up slowly and firmly, tucking in any loose pieces as you go. Keep rolling until you get to the other end, then set it on a cutting board with the seam side down. Press gently to be sure it holds in place.
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With your sharpest knife, prepare to slice the rolled up tortilla cross-wise. First, slice a thin edge of each end (these are not party-pretty but still delicious!). Then slice off one pinwheel at a time, about 1/2 inch thick, until you've got about a dozen pinwheels.Repeat this entire process with the second tortilla, the rest of the cream cheese, and the vegetables.
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You can make these several hours in advance. Just store in the refrigerator on a single layer on plate; cover tightly with plastic wrap.
These look great 😊 can’t wait to try them!
Found you when researching bran muffin recipes and stayed –
Because of the recipes, and the philosophy. There are so many good blogs but your
Approach to diet, food and health is really good. 🍒
Thank you so much, Mary! 🙏🏼 Always nice to hear when my message and philosophy resonates with others. I share newer content more frequently on my social media accounts. If you aren’t already following me there, find me on Facebook (Juggling with Julia) or Instagram (@jugglingjulia_rd). See you there!