All Of It with Alison Stewart

Rice is a staple ingredient in most cultures, and yet it can be deceptively tricky to make! Chef JJ Johnson hopes to help with his new cookbook, The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes from Around the World for the Heart of Your Table. He joins us to discuss, and takes calls from listeners with their rice questions.

Collard Greens and Rice Soup 

I created this soup so that I could incorporate some of the most basic ingredients I love in one pot. Potlikker is the term for the juice left from cooking seasoned collard greens, and that’s what I use here to build the broth. Revered in Southern cooking, potlikker is super-flavorful and packed with vitamins and minerals. It was originally eaten for its nutritional value by enslaved people on Southern plantations, and to this day some people drink it straight! The paprika adds a hint of smokiness, and finishing it with sherry vinegar gives the soup a bit of tang. You can find bunches of collard greens at the grocery store or farmers’ market, or buy it pre-cut in a bag to make this simple recipe even quicker. After you add the collards and rice, the soup becomes thicker and less brothy. Any leftovers freeze well for future meals. 

Active Cook Time: 50 Minutes  Serves: 4 

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil  1 medium white onion, finely chopped  2 large carrots, finely chopped  2 stalks celery, finely chopped  2 tablespoons tomato paste  1 tablespoon garlic, minced  2 tablespoons smoked paprika  1 teaspoon ground coriander  1 teaspoon ground cumin  5 cups trimmed and sliced collard greens or one 12-ounce bag precut collard greens  6 cups chicken stock  2 teaspoons kosher salt (preferably Diamond Crystal), plus more to taste  3 cups cooked long-grain white rice  ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley  1 tablespoon sherry vinegar  Chili oil, for serving  Sour cream, for serving  

Celebrated novelist Lauren Groff is back with a new historical novel. The Vaster Wilds follows a girl in colonial era America who has to figure out how to survive on her own in the wilderness. Groff joins us to discuss the novel.

Event: Groff will be speaking at Books Are Magic on 9/12 in conversation with Miranda July.

Barbara Mensch is a Brooklyn-born photographer who for years has wandered around her home city taking pictures. Her latest collection explores the archives of her work around Lower Manhattan, and how the area changed from the 80s, 90s, and into a post 9/11 world. A Falling-Off Place: The Transformation of Lower Manhattan features images of scenes like the Fulton Fish Market near the Brooklyn Bridge, construction of glamorous housing that would replace blue collar homes in the neighborhood, and the destruction that laid in the aftermath of 9/11. Mensch is with us in studio to discuss the book and her practice.

Our host Alison Stewart returns, and shares what she enjoyed doing most while she recovered from kidney donation... going out to lunch! She is joined by Eater New York editor and critic Robert Sietsema to discuss some of the best lunch spots in the city, and we take your calls.

Robert's List: 

Moustache Pitza (Greenwich Village)Salty Lunch Lady's Little Luncheonette (Ridgewood)Peppercorn Station (Bryant Park)Pastrami Queen (Upper East Side)Saravana Bhavan (Kips Bay)Electric Burrito (Bowery)Tengri Tagh Uyghur (Garment District)Gosuke | Henn Na Hotel (Garment District)U-Gu Sushi (Clinton Hill)Little Myanmar (East Village)Tangy Noodle (Chelsea)Mischa (Midtown East)Charles Pan Fried Chicken (Upper West Side)Barachou Parisian Flan (Upper West Side)Donut Pub (Noho) [Chelsea location is temporarily closed]Peter Pan Donuts (Greenpoint)

Alison's List: 

866 (East Village) 

Fabrique Artisan Baker(Meatpacking)S&P, Formerly Eisenbergs (Flatiron)Tea and Sympathy (Greenwich Village)Via Carota (West Village)Taco Ramirez (Greenpoint)Terra (Chelsea)Hotel Chelsea CafeJamrock Jerk Truck (Hudson Yards)Brown Buttery Creamery (Bed Stuy) & Soft Swerve (Murray Hill) 

Insider recently reported that four million fewer teenagers enrolled in college in 2022 than in 2012. Several companies including Google, Delta Air Lines, and IBM are rethinking strict degree requirements. Does this mean that college degrees are losing their value? We navigate what these trends mean for higher education institutions and the workforce with Fast Company senior editor Christopher Zara who wrote Uneducated: A Memoir of Flunking Out, Falling Apart, and Finding My Worth and NPR correspondent Elissa Nadworny. We also take your calls.

[REBROADCAST FROM MARCH 28, 2023] Destiny's Child released their debut, self-titled album on February 17, 1998. The album introduced the world to one of the soon-to-be-best-selling girl groups of all time, spawned the hit "No, No, No," and set the stage for Beyonce's eventual success as a solo artist. We revisit the album on its 25th anniversary as part of our series Silver Liner Notes, with journalist Emil Wilbekin, as well as album producer (and founding member of Tony! Toni! Toné!) D'wayne Wiggins.

[REBROADCAST FROM MARCH 28, 2023] *NSYNC released their debut, self-titled album internationally on March 24, 1998. The album introduced the world to one of the soon-to-be-best-selling boybands of all time, spawned hits like "Tearin' Up My Heart" and "I Want You Back," and set the stage for Justin Timberlake's eventual success as a solo artist. We revisit the album on its 25th anniversary as part of our series Silver Liner Notes, with Maria Sherman, author of Larger Than Life: A History of Boy Bands from NKOTB to BTS.