Once upon a time, there was a restaurant/bar in Seattle’s university district called Rain Dancer. I would eat there with my dad and sister when visiting the Pacific Northwest.
They had the most amazing sandwiches on their lunch menu, but my sis and I would always get the same thing ~ the Southwestern grilled cheese.
However, when I would place my order I would always call it the {Santa Fe} grilled cheese. The waiter always knew what I meant….
One time we went over for lunch, parked in the rear parking lot, walked up to the back door and…..gasp! The door was locked. We went to the front. Rain Dancer was no mas.
Sad, sad day.
I have been wanting to recreate this sammie for AWHILE now and this afternoon I finally did…
Brought back LOTS of memories.
This is a pic of Jay’s…he requested cheddar rather than the traditional pepper jack….gasp! I would have taken a picture of mine with the {proper} queso, however when I went to flip it in the pan, it got all jacked up and was no longer as photo worthy as this one. BUT it was still delish!
All you need is some sourdough bread, butter, black bean and corn salsa {just some black beans, corn, red onion, cilantro, cumin, salt & pepper, lime juice and a tad bit of olive oil}, tomato slices, avocado slices, and cheddar pepper jack cheese. Butter one side of each piece of bread, put on a slice {or two} of cheese, spoon on some of the salsa, add your tomato & avocado slices, put more cheese on top of that to act as glue to hold the whole thing together. Preheat your grill pan or skillet on medium and grill away! I put a lid over it to help with the melting process. Maybe 3-5 minutes on each side and you’re good to go.
You could most certainly add some turkey or use guacamole instead of sliced avocado. I thought about smashing the beans a little {kinda like refried beans} because they tend to spill out of the sandwich when grilling and flipping…
These would be great to make as minis for an appetizer of sorts, too.
SO yum!
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This is my 700th post!
Wow.
SEVEN HUNDY!
Two year bloggy anniversary is coming up on November 1st…I have a little giveaway in the works. Please check back soon for the deets!
Thanks for reading! I cherish each and every one of you!
{BIG hug!}
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Linking up over at Gingerbread ~ Sweet Saturday
Come on over and browse!
XO
OMG Amy, I’ve been thinking of this sandwich for so long! I could not for the life of me remember the restaurant — so sad it’s gone! I remember the grilled cheese and black beans, but couldn’t remember the rest of the sandwich. Thank you! I’m so making this soon!
This looks delish!!! I am going to have to try this!
http://www.thegingerbreadblog.com/2011/10/sweet-saturday-v10.html
Oh my goodness! What an honor….thank you! Thank you! My first feature…… 😉 XO
Just stumbled upon this on google. Believe it or not that was my brother Tim’s restaurant and I am currently in the process of opening up a food truck doing the sandwiches and YES the Santa Fe is one of them. Be on the lookout for The Rain Dancer this fall
Thank you, Jeff, for your comment! That is so cool that you’re reopening in food truck format! My father lives in Seattle so next time we visit, I’ll most certainly look you up!Have a blessed day! 😉