Thanksgiving Vegetarian Soups

Dean Fearing loves the holiday feel of butternut squash, especially when it’s combined with ginger, as it is for his smooth, gently sweet soup. He tops it with whipped cream flecked with chopped pecans for a number of reasons: “Usually holiday soups have a dollop of cream—adding pecans gives it a dollop of flavor. And crunch. I think everything should have a little bit of crunch to it.”

To make this healthy soup especially tasty, Naomi Pomeroy cooks the carrots with Madras curry powder, ginger and garlic. Before serving, she adds a little bit of Tabasco sauce and a drizzle of tarragon-infused oil.

Mary Ellen Diaz loves how cauliflower adds a natural, clean flavor to this luscious soup as well as lots of vitamins: Three florets provide close to half the daily requirement of vitamin C.

Known as shorbet ads, this vividly hued lentil soup is very popular in Egypt.

For an ingenious twist on the classic combination of broccoli and melted cheddar, Barbara Lynch serves a warming broccoli soup with cheddar crisps. The soup is equally good with cauliflower or celery root in place of the broccoli.

Red-orange kuri squash has a pumpkin shape, but no ridges. Its flavor is sweet and nutty, reminiscent of chestnuts.

Chef Annie Somerville thickens and enriches her fragrant vegetarian cauliflower soup with unsweetened coconut milk. The thinly sliced jalapeño served on top adds a bright, fresh heat that’s delicious with the warm curry spices and sweet roasted cauliflower.

Chewy flat breads with roasted garlic are a perfect accompaniment for this thick and velvety soup.

The soup uses only one cup of the ginger broth; the rest makes a terrific cooking liquid for grains like quinoa.