Description
These super simple Vegan Pinwheels are spinach artichoke flavor and perfect for a packed lunch, picnic, party appetizer, or an easy snack.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds (or raw cashews)
- 1/2 cup filtered water
- 1/4 cup non-fortified nutritional yeast (or regular, see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon agave (or sugar of choice)
- Juice of 1 medium lemon (about 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice)
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 12 ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained (see note 2)
- 3 (three) 12-inch tortillas of choice (see note 3)
- 3-ish cups baby spinach
- 10 or 12 ounce jar sun dried tomatoes, drained (need around 15 pieces, see note 4)
Instructions
- Note: If you do not have a particularly high powered food processor such as a Breville food processor or blender such as a Vitamix or Blendtec, you may want to soak the seeds (or nuts) in hot water for 20-60 minutes.
- Make the filling: In a food processor or blender, combine the raw sunflower seeds, water, nutritional yeast, agave, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and sea salt. Blend until smooth. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides with a spatula once or twice.
- Add artichoke hearts: Drain the artichoke hearts and gently pulse them in. It’s nice to have the filling a little chunky. Makes for more interesting vegan pinwheels.
- Start assembling pinwheels: Spread some of the filling (about a third--I found that this amount of filling is perfect for three 12-inch tortillas/wraps) over the entirety of the tortilla with a spatula, trying to keep the layer as even as possible. Your layer should be around ⅛-¼” thick.
- Add spinach in a few layers to the wrap: You don’t want so much that the tortilla won’t roll up, but you don’t want so little that the pinwheel won’t stay together because it doesn’t have enough filling. I found that 2-3 layers of spinach was perfect.
- Add a row of sun dried tomatoes, overlapping them slightly.
- Roll and repeat: Roll up the pinwheel tightly and wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining rolls until you’ve used up all your filling.
- Chill: Place the rolled up vegan pinwheels on a plate and cover with a plastic bag or foil and freeze for 60-90 minutes. This makes them easier to cut. Alternatively, refrigerate for several hours or overnight. But I personally have best results when I freeze for about an hour.
- Slice: To cut, wet your sharpest knife and make a confident cut through the center of the rolled up pinwheel, like cutting a burrito. Slice the remainder of each roll in 1-inch sections. You may find that the end of each roll falls apart a little. This is what we call the chef’s snack.
- Serve: Place cut pinwheels on a platter, serve, and enjoy!
- Store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 4-5 days. These are perfect for picnics, packed lunches (for kids or adults), party food, vegan New Year’s Eve Hors d’Oeuvres, etc.
Notes
- Note 1: To keep the filling pale, I used non-fortified nutritional yeast but either will work fine.
- Note 2: I like the jarred marinated artichoke hearts for this recipe, but the ones packed in water/brine will also work.
- Note 3: Use any large tortillas you like. Siete Foods makes a great gluten-free burrito size tortilla.
- Note 4: You can use the sundried tomatoes that come in olive oil or without. I think the kind in oil works best for this recipe. The ones that come without can be a little hard and won’t stay nicely in the pinwheel. To fix this, try soaking them in hot water for 30-40 minutes, then blotting them dry with a paper towel. They should be more flexible.
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Snack, Appetizer
- Method: Food Processor, Blender
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Vegan Pinwheel, Vegan Party Food, Vegan Appetizer