Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Pinwheels with Dill
Corn tortillas spread with lemony goat cheese, layered with smoked salmon, cucumber, and arugula, then rolled tight, chilled until firm, and cut into spirals.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
These are the lunch I pack when I want something I can eat with one hand and no fork. Twenty minutes of work the night before gives you four containers of spirals that come out of the refrigerator ready. They are also the only rolled lunch I have found that survives a bag, because chilling the rolls whole and cutting them cold sets the goat cheese into something closer to a glue than a spread. I make them the night before a travel day, or on a Sunday when I know I will want to eat standing up in a hallway at some point during the week.
Corn tortillas crack, and that is the one thing that ruins this. The fix is heat and speed. Warm them one at a time in a dry skillet for about thirty seconds a side, until they go soft and pliable and steam faintly, then stack them under a clean towel so they hold that steam while you work. A warm tortilla rolls into a tight cylinder without a single split. A cold one shatters down the middle every time. Spread the cheese all the way to the edges, keep the fillings in a thin flat layer rather than a heap, and roll from the edge nearest you, pulling back against the roll as you go to keep it tight.
What makes them taste like more than a party tray is the amount of lemon and dill in the cheese. Goat cheese on its own is tangy and a little chalky, and beaten with lemon zest, juice, chopped dill, chives, and black pepper it turns into something soft and green-tasting that stands up to the salt of the salmon. The cucumber matchsticks and thin radish slices are there for water and crunch, and the arugula goes in flat so it keeps a little pepper. Six cold spirals and a handful of extra arugula on the side is a real lunch, and it is a good deal more pleasant to eat at a desk than anything that needs reheating.
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas (6-inch)
- 12 oz smoked salmon, in thin slices
- 7 oz goat cheese, softened at room temperature
- 1/2 English cucumber (about 5 oz), seeded and cut into thin matchsticks
- 3 cups baby arugula (about 2 oz), divided
- 6 radishes (about 3 1/2 oz), very thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
- 3 tbsp thinly sliced chives
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, plus the zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Beat the cheese: Put the softened goat cheese in a bowl with the lemon zest and juice, the chopped dill, the chives, and the black pepper, and beat it with a fork until it is smooth, pale, and spreadable. If it is stiff, work in a teaspoon of water at a time. Cold cheese will tear a tortilla, so let it come to room temperature first.
- Prep the fillings: Seed the cucumber half with a spoon and cut it into matchsticks about two inches long, then blot them dry on a towel. Slice the radishes as thin as you can manage. Set aside 1 cup of the arugula for serving and keep the rest for the rolls.
- Warm the tortillas: Heat a dry skillet over medium. Warm each tortilla for about 30 seconds a side, until it is soft, pliable, and steaming faintly, then stack the warm ones under a clean kitchen towel. Work with them while they are still warm, since a cooled tortilla splits the moment you roll it.
- Fill and roll: Spread each warm tortilla with cheese all the way to the edges. Lay smoked salmon over the cheese in a single flat layer, then a thin line of cucumber matchsticks, a few radish slices, and a flat scattering of arugula. Roll from the edge nearest you, pulling back against the roll as you go so it stays tight.
- Chill the rolls whole: Wrap each roll snugly in parchment or plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight. This is what sets the cheese so the spirals hold together, and cutting a warm roll gives you a flattened mess rather than a pinwheel.
- Cut and pack: Unwrap the chilled rolls, trim about half an inch off each end, and cut each one into 3 thick spirals with a sharp serrated knife, wiping the blade between rolls. Pack 6 spirals cut side up per container. Toss the reserved arugula with the olive oil and salt and pack it alongside.
Variations
- Smoked trout: Flake smoked trout over the cheese in place of the salmon for something softer and smokier.
- Feta and mint: Beat feta into the goat cheese and swap the dill for chopped mint for a sharper, saltier roll.
- Add a crunch layer: Lay a thin line of jicama or water chestnut matchsticks alongside the cucumber for a firmer bite.
- Everything seasoning: Sprinkle the cheese with everything bagel seasoning before the salmon goes on.
- Tuna version: Mash drained canned tuna into half the cheese and roll that for a cheaper, milder pinwheel.
Storage & Leftovers
Cut pinwheels keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2 days. The cut faces dry slightly after that and the tortilla edges start to firm up, so this is the shortest-lived of the make-ahead lunches and worth building for Monday and Tuesday rather than the whole week.
Uncut rolls keep better than cut ones. If you are working further ahead, wrap the whole rolls tightly and refrigerate them for up to 3 days, then slice on the morning you carry them. Thirty seconds of knife work buys you a noticeably fresher spiral.
These do not freeze. Goat cheese goes grainy on thawing, the cucumber collapses, and a frozen corn tortilla loses whatever flexibility the warming gave it. Everything about this recipe depends on the roll being cold and firm rather than frozen and then soft.
Notes & Tips
- How it packs: Six spirals per container, packed cut side up in a single layer so they hold their shape, with the dressed arugula in the same box or a small side pot.
- How far ahead: Cut and packed, 2 days. Rolled, wrapped, and uncut, 3 days. The cheese mixture on its own keeps 4 days, so most of the work can happen well before the week starts.
- Warm tortillas, always: Thirty seconds a side in a dry pan and then straight under a towel. This single step is the difference between a spiral and a pile of shards.
- Cheese to the edges: An unspread rim is where a roll comes apart. Take it right out to the edge and the cheese seals the seam as it chills.
- Chill before you cut: An hour in the refrigerator firms the cheese enough to slice cleanly. Cutting warm rolls flattens them and pushes the filling out the sides.
- Serrated knife, wiped often: A sawing motion with a clean blade cuts through tortilla and salmon without dragging. Wipe the knife between rolls or the cheese smears across every face.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- The salmon, the goat cheese, and the corn tortilla work as one thing here. The fish brings the salt and the richness, the cheese brings the tang that cuts it, and the tortilla underneath gives the roll enough body to eat like a real lunch.
- Smoked salmon is oily, silky, and strongly flavored, so a thin layer goes a long way in a roll like this. It carries the omega-3 fats and the vitamin D that oily fish are known for, and it comes out of the package ready to use.
- Goat cheese is tangy, soft, and easy to beat smooth with a fork, which is why it works as the glue in these rolls. It brings calcium and protein, and its sharpness is what keeps the salmon from tasting only salty.
- Lemon zest, dill, and chives are the whole seasoning, and all three go in raw. The zest carries the oils that make the cheese smell of lemon rather than simply taste sour, and the dill turns soft and grassy against the salmon overnight.
- Cucumber and radish are in there for water and snap, and they are what stop a roll built on cheese and fish from eating heavy. Arugula laid in flat brings its own pepper along with folate, and it keeps a little bite even after a night in the refrigerator.
- As you eat, notice the cold spiral of it, the dill and lemon coming through first and the salmon after, and take the six of them slowly rather than three at a time over a screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a different tortilla or a wrap?
Corn is what fits here and it is worth the warming step. If you use something else, keep it soft and flexible and roll it the same way. Whatever you use, spread the cheese to the very edges, because that is what seals the roll and stops it unwinding in a bag.
My tortillas split when I rolled them. What went wrong?
They cooled down. Corn goes brittle within a minute of leaving the pan, so keep the stack under a towel and roll each one while it is genuinely warm to the touch. A thick heap of filling will also force a split, so keep every layer thin and flat.
How far ahead can I make these?
Roll them up to 3 days ahead and keep them whole and wrapped, or cut and pack them up to 2 days ahead. The cheese can be beaten and refrigerated up to 4 days in advance, which turns the whole thing into about fifteen minutes of assembly.
Does this fit a low-FODMAP lunch?
It does. The seasoning is lemon, dill, chives, and black pepper rather than garlic or onion, so nothing is removed from it and nothing tastes thin. Stay near two tortillas per person, and reach for more chives when you want that mild allium flavor turned up.