With a life focused on love for the culinary arts, Aliza Green is an award-winning cookbook author, food writer, chef and television personality.

This James Beard Award-winning cookbook author has recently released her seventh book: Starting with Ingredients: Quintessential Recipes for the Way We Really Cook (Running Press, 2006). This 1,000 plus page volume transcends the traditional cookbook to give the home cook more, featuring 100 chapters, each on a specific ingredient. The gorgeously illustrated, fact-filled chapters present an astonishing array of culinary possibilities for each ingredient, using a variety of cooking methods, flavors and ethnic inspirations.

Aliza's cookbooks include BEANS: More than 200 Wholesome Delicious Recipes from Around the World (Running Press, 2004), an update of her popular 2001 book chosen by the New York Times as one of their top holiday cookbooks. ÁCerviche! Seafood, Salads, and Cocktails with a Latina Twist (Running Press, 2001), co-authored with Guillermo Pernot, received a James Beard Award for ÒBest Single Subject Cookbook.Ó With the renowned French Chef Georges Perrier, she co-authored Georges Perrier, Le Bec-Fin Recipes (Running Press, 1997). Green has also authored a series for Quirk Books including Field Guide to Herbs & Spices (2006), Field Guide to Meat (2005) and Field Guide to Produce (2004). Her Field Guide to Fish & Seafood will be published in Spring 2007.

A celebrated media personality, Aliza makes frequent appearances on television and radio programs including NBC's The Today Show. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Fine Cooking, Prevention, Philadelphia Magazine and The National Culinary Review. Her books have been covered in numerous publications such as The New York Times, Men's Health, Shape and many more.

Aliza began her career in the mid-70's as one of the pioneer chefs that helped make Philadelphia a major dining destination, starting as Executive Chef at the renowned Ristorante DeLullo. In 1988 she was inducted into Philadelphia Inquirer's ÒCulinary Hall of FameÓ as one of the ten most influential people in the city's food industry in light of her accomplishments at several local restaurants. She has taught numerous cooking classes and has served as Adjunct Professor in Drexel University's Culinary Arts Program.

Today Aliza travels the globe in her lifelong quest for culinary knowledge, and she shares her experience, ideas and sheer love of food with a growing international audience. For more on Aliza visit www.alizagreen.com

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon each: chopped garlic and ginger root
2 teaspoons each: ground cumin and ground coriander
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch each: ground cloves and cayenne pepper
1 (15 oz / 444 ml) can chopped plum tomatoes, or 2 cups fresh diced tomatoes
2 large yams, peeled and cut up
6 cups / 1.42 Ltr. chicken stock (or vegetable stock), simmering
3⁄4 cup / 709 ml roasted peanuts
1⁄2 cup /236 ml peanut butter, crunchy or creamy
1⁄2 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional garnishes: diced fresh tomato, cilantro sprigs, and chopped roasted peanuts

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté the onion until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne.

2. Sauté together 2 to 3 minutes to release their fragrance. Stir in the tomatoes and yams and continue to cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to meld the flavors.

3. Add the hot stock and peanuts, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat.

4. Using the Vitamix Professional Series, puree the soup until smooth. For extra-smooth soup, strain it through a sieve.

5. Return the soup to the saucepan. Whisk in the peanut butter and cilantro, season with salt and pepper, and heat through. Top each serving with the garnishes. Serve piping hot.

yield: 8 servings

Peanut soup appears on the menu in many African countries. This smooth, creamy version, thickened with both peanuts and peanut butter, gets its sweetness from yam. Colored a warm, reddish brown, the soup is fragrant with sweet spices, intensely flavored, earthy, and piquant. Europeans brought peanuts from South America to Africa in the early 1500s where they caught on quickly because of their similarity to the native African bambarra groundnut. In the U.S., it has become traditional to serve this soup when celebrating the seven days of Kwanzaa. Substitute vegetable stock for a deliciously rich vegetarian soup.