Chicken Taco Mexican Pinwheels

2-0 in the spring season. The team came out of a year of pandemic with more edge than I expected — sharper, hungrier, less tolerant of their own mediocrity. A team that has been denied a season tends to play with a specific intention that a team that has always had Friday nights doesn't quite have. I'll take it.

Diego scored his first varsity touchdown on Friday. A twenty-three yard run in the third quarter, outside zone right, he cut back against the grain and outran a linebacker to the corner. I was on the sideline twenty yards away. I watched him score and I didn't react. I made a technical notation on my clipboard. I am the head coach. On that field he is one of forty-seven players and I am the head coach. When he got to the sideline I said "Good read on the cutback" and moved on. Later, at home, after the game, after the showers and the reviews and the house went quiet, I sat on the edge of his bed while he was nearly asleep and I said, "I was proud of you tonight." He said, "I know, Dad." He was asleep in thirty seconds. I sat there for a while longer.

Hector called after the game. He'd been watching a different game on TV but he wanted to know. I told him about the touchdown. He was quiet for a moment and then: "That's my boy." Not Diego's grandfather. My boy. Both things at once. That's how Hector loves.

Enchiladas to celebrate. Full ceremony: red chile sauce from scratch, shredded chicken, stacked New Mexico style. The kind of meal that says the right things without saying them.

Hector’s voice on the phone — that’s my boy — is still sitting with me, and the only response I know to a moment like that is to cook something that carries the same kind of weight. We do enchiladas for the big ceremonies, but these Chicken Taco Mexican Pinwheels were already on the table before the enchiladas came out of the oven, and the team kids who came back to the house demolished them in about six minutes flat. That felt right too — fast and joyful and gone before you can overthink it, same as a twenty-three yard cutback run to the corner.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 20 min (plus 1 hour chilling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

3 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
1/2 cup canned diced green chiles, drained
1/3 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
4 large (10-inch) flour tortillas
Salsa and sour cream, for serving

Instructions

Season the chicken. Toss the shredded chicken with taco seasoning until evenly coated. Set aside.
Make the spread. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth and well combined.
Fold in the fillings. Stir the seasoned chicken, shredded cheese, green chiles, red bell pepper, green onions, and cilantro into the cream cheese mixture until evenly distributed.
Assemble the pinwheels. Lay one flour tortilla flat on a clean surface. Spread a generous, even layer of the chicken mixture across the entire tortilla, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edges.
Roll and wrap. Roll the tortilla tightly into a log. Wrap it snugly in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
Chill. Refrigerate the wrapped rolls for at least 1 hour (or up to 8 hours) so they firm up and slice cleanly.
Slice and serve. Unwrap each roll and slice into 1-inch rounds using a sharp knife. Arrange on a platter and serve with salsa and sour cream on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Taco Mexican Pinwheels — For the Night Diego Found the End Zone