A New Beginning (Salmon pinwheels)

I love this time of year. I am fond of beginnings of any type- starting a fresh notebook, getting on a plane for a trip, turning the page for a new week in my diary. Even mornings are good (although I am iffy about the getting out of bed part). Starting a new year, therefore, is about as good as it gets. A chance to be different, be better, and feel cleansed of the bad of the year before.

Also, there are lots of left-overs from all the festiveness that has gone before.

A new year cannot really start without great food. I’ve always thought new year’s resolutions about diets are really meant to start on 4 or 5 January. Why start something shiny and new with feeling hungry and depriving yourself? There are far better ways to celebrate the new. Eating apple fritters (recipe to follow soon) and salmon-cream cheese pin wheels, for instance. Both have become somewhat of a New Year's tradition in my family, and one I would be sad to miss. Even though this might not be the best time of the year for snack recipes (there’s all those left-overs to get through and perhaps the healthy eating should resume after more than a week of over-indulgence), these are so lovely, easy to prepare and good for parties that it would be a shame not to share. Plus, they have salmon. And salmon is good for you, right? Right, then.

May 2009 bring you many beautiful beginnings and healthy snacks.


Salmon pinwheels

smoked salmon
cream cheese (the sturdy kind, not the soft, spreadable-straight-from-the-container type)
chopped fresh dill
lemon juice

(No measurements because all smoked salmon is not sliced equally. I would say about 150 gr of cream cheese for about 100 gr of fish would be a nice ratio to aim for.)

Mash cream cheese to soften and mix with chopped fresh dill and lemon juice to taste. You want the cream cheese to taste bright and refreshing, to balance the salty fattiness of the fish. Spread slices of the salmon with the cream cheese mixture and roll up to form logs. Wrap in foil and refrigerate until firm. Cut logs into slices; these are your pin wheels.

Serve on sliced cucumber, on crackers or by themselves.