Norwegian Food Cart

I was introduced to Portland's food cart culture when I moved there years ago. There are hundreds...maybe even a thousand food carts in Portland. When I worked downtown I would see flocks of business people lined up at the carts for lunch and for good reason. You could usually get large portions of good food for cheap.

I always preferred eating at the Thai booths, but my two favorite Thai carts either closed up or moved out of town. So, recently I decided that it was time to try something new.

I did an online search to find the best food cart in Portland and after reading journal articles, top 10 lists, and reviews, I decided to try "The Viking Soul." The food cart stood out to me, because they are the only ones to sell Norwegian food in the Portland area, from what I understand. I was also intrigued by their menu, which seemed to have innovative flavor combinations and the reviews they got.

One yelper said, that they could venture off and try a different food cart, but what if it wasn't as good as "The Viking Soul?" The horror...lol.

I've waited to write a blog post about this date, because we had to go there three times before we got to try everything we wanted.

The first time we went there, they were closed. The second time, I tried their wrap with meat balls, purple cabbage, and cream sauce. My husband got the mushroom patty and blue cheese wrap. Then, the owner gave us a free honey nut wrap, because they ran out of the smoked salmon wrap that we really wanted to try.

We went back for a third time to try their wrap with smoked salmon, pickled shallots, dill creme fraiche, and watercress greens.

Now I know why they are so highly rated. All the wraps were good, but my favorite was the smoked salmon wrap. The balance in flavors was spot on. I am going to try and recreate it at home this coming week.

The second best wrap was the meatball and purple cabbage wrap. We have already recreated this one at home. We use tortillas instead of lefse (potato wraps.) We fill them with turkey meatballs, a cheese sauce and purple cabbage. I like the balance of flavors (sweet/salty) in the ones we make. It reminds my husband so much of the wrap we got at the food cart that he thinks about our date when he eats it.

Wrap Recipe
*Tortilla wraps

*Purple cabbage recipe (I omit the caraway & pepper, I use oil instead of butter) - link

*Turkey meatballs - I buy them frozen at the grocery store 

*Cheese sauce - 1 Tbsp oil, 2 Tbsp flour (combine & cook in skillet for a min), add 1 cup milk, 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and a little roasted garlic from the jar. Cook & stir until thickened.

We lay out a tortilla. Spread cheese sauce in a line down the center. Put meatballs on top of the cheese sauce. Cover the meat with 1/2 cup or more of purple cabbage and wrap it up. Serve warm.