4 great food cart recipes

In food-savvy Portland, Oregon, the restaurants that create a buzz aren’t always high-profile places with big-name chefs.

Surprisingly often, they’re food carts. Portlanders line the sidewalks for tastes, then blog at foodcartsportland.com and post reviews on Yelp.

While some cities’ carts could be described in less than flattering terms (hint: rhymes with “coach”), in the City of Roses, they come up smelling like, well, ethereal buckwheat waffles, saffron-scented Italian arancine, and decadent, just-baked chocolate cookies.

The recipes

Spicy Chickpea Sandwiches
In the streets of Palermo, Sicily, you’ll find panelle, fried chickpea-flour patties served on a roll. Kevin Sandri of Garden State adds a carrot slaw, salad greens, roasted squash, and spicy aioli for an exceptionally tasty vegetarian sandwich. Here’s our simplified version, broiled and minus the squash.

Eggs and Greens
At Moxie Rx, Nancye Benson tops bowls of beautiful local salad greens with perfectly fried eggs, crisp slivers of leeks, and a fresh-thyme vinaigrette.