Massaged Broccoli Rabe Salad with Sunflower Seeds ’ Cranberries — The Body Memo Dinner

I have been thinking about my body this week, which is not something I usually write about but which is becoming harder to ignore. Forty is the age where the body starts sending memos that the mind does not want to read. My knees are stiff every morning. My lower back talks to me after four hours in the cab. My blood pressure, which was borderline last year, is now officially high, and the doctor put me on medication, which I take every morning with my coffee and my pride swallowed whole.

The trucking industry does not care about your body. The seats are uncomfortable, the hours are long, the food is bad unless you bring your own, and the lifestyle is sedentary in a way that would horrify a personal trainer. I have been sitting in a truck cab for twenty years. My body has absorbed twenty years of vibration, twenty years of sitting, twenty years of climbing in and out of a cab that was not designed for a five-ten woman who had two pregnancies and has been lifting fifty-pound coolers since she was twenty-one.

But I am strong. I am still strong. I can lift those coolers. I can drive twelve hours and walk off the stiffness in twenty minutes. I can cook dinner after a two-day haul and carry sleeping children to bed. The body is not failing. It is negotiating. It is saying: I have done this for twenty years, Brenda, and I will keep doing it, but there are terms. The terms are: blood pressure medication, stretching at rest stops, drinking more water, eating better, and acknowledging that forty is not thirty and never will be again.

I accept the terms. I have no choice. The alternative to accepting the terms is quitting, and I do not quit. I am a Novak woman. We do not quit. We adjust. We take the medication. We stretch at rest stops. We eat the chili from the slow cooker instead of the gas station burrito. We keep going, because keeping going is the only thing we know how to do, and we are very good at it.

I made a healthy dinner this week, or what passes for healthy in this house: grilled salmon, roasted broccoli, brown rice. The kids looked at it like I had served them a punishment. Tyler ate it. Amber ate it and said it was good. Justin ate the rice and pushed the salmon around his plate. Josie said she does not eat fish, which is new information. Dave ate everything and said it was great. The body memo was received. The dinner was served. The terms were met. We keep going.

That broccoli side I served with the salmon was the hill I was willing to die on. If the body is going to send memos, I am going to answer them with something green on the plate. This massaged broccoli rabe salad has become my go-to because it is fast, it is crunchy, and even the kids who claim they do not eat vegetables will pick out the cranberries and sunflower seeds, which I count as a partial victory. It pairs perfectly with grilled salmon and brown rice — the whole “accepting the terms” dinner — and it takes less time than stretching at a rest stop.

Massaged Broccoli Rabe Salad with Sunflower Seeds & Cranberries

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 3 minutes | Total Time: 18 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch broccoli rabe (about 1 pound), tough stems trimmed
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup roasted sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons shaved Parmesan cheese
• 1 small shallot, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Blanch the broccoli rabe. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bright green and slightly tender. Drain and immediately transfer to an ice bath to stop cooking. Drain well and pat dry.
2. Chop and prep. Roughly chop the blanched broccoli rabe into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl.
3. Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
4. Massage the greens. Pour the dressing over the broccoli rabe. Using your hands, massage the dressing into the greens for about 1 to 2 minutes, until the leaves soften and darken slightly.
5. Add toppings. Toss in the sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, and sliced shallot. Gently mix to combine.
6. Serve. Transfer to a serving dish and top with shaved Parmesan. Serve immediately alongside grilled salmon and brown rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 7g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 340mg