Step into the red-curtained kitchen of the late, great David Lynch to recreate his strangely simple, surreally ordinary favourite: Quinoa and Broccoli. As the story goes, David Lynch didn’t inherit the recipe, the recipe inherited him. One night, while sitting in a windowless room, he heard a faint hum, like static from an old TV. The air thickened, and from the corner of his mind’s eye, a figure emerged—its face hidden in shadow, its hands shimmering like reflections on water.
“You will need quinoa,” the figure murmured, its voice low and otherworldly. “And broccoli.”
“I don’t like broccoli,” Lynch replied.
“How strange,” said the visitor. “Broccoli likes you.”
And then it was gone.
From that moment, Lynch understood what he had to do. He approached the recipe the way he approached his films: with precision and mystery.
Makes: 1 bowl
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
½ c quinoa
1 ½ c organic broccoli (chilled, from bag)
1 cube vegetable bullion/stock
Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
METHOD
Fill your Lil Legacy with about an inch of fresh water. Set on the stove, on a high heat and add several dashes of sea salt.
Look at the quinoa. It’s like sand, this quinoa. It’s real real tight little grains, but it’s going to puff up.
Unwrap bullion cube, bust it up with a small knife, and let it wait there. It’ll be happy waiting right there.
When water comes to a boil, add quinoa and cover pan with lid. Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, retrieve broccoli from refrigerator and set aside, then fill a fine crystal wine glass—one given to you by Agnes and Maya from Lódz, Poland—with red wine, ‘cause this is what you do when you’re making quinoa. Go outside, sit, take a smoke and think about all the little quinoas bubbling away in the pan.
Add broccoli, cover and let cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, go back outside and tell the story about the train with the coal-burning engine that stopped in a barren, dust-filled landscape on a moonless Yugoslavian night in 1965. The story about the frog moths and the small copper coin that became one room-temperature bottle of violet sugar water, six ice-cold Coca-colas, and handfuls and handfuls of silver coins.
Turn off heat, add bullion to quinoa and stir with the tip of the small knife you used to bust up the bullion.
Scoop quinoa into bowl using a spoon. Drizzle with liquid amino acids and olive oil.
Serve and enjoy.
