One could argue, without any difficulty, that a classically mixed Bloody Mary is a soup. Sure, the notable addition of vodka may give pause, but who said that soups were defined by their sobriety? Soup is merely defined as a “liquid food,” which also means that perhaps smoothies and milkshakes could be included in the category. A Bloody Mary, though, already has the basic vegetal building blocks of a cozy tomato soup, lightened and lengthened with chilled spirits, like a tipsy gazpacho served in a glass. Honestly, that sounds pretty good, too.
But I digress. We’re talking about the Bloody Mary here; robust and highly seasoned, often spiked with Worcestershire, Tabasco, and plenty of black pepper, at least. It wouldn’t take much at all to make that into a meal. Hell, you could just heat up the foundational mix and call it a day, but we can do better. Taking a page from classic tomato soup, it’s not a radical departure from tradition, which is a large part of its charm. Just layer in some caramelized onions, cook up the celery instead of saving it for a garnish, and add a bit more vegan bacon for that all-important protein, and now it’s looking like a proper bowl of soup.
We can’t leave garnishes out of the picture, though. They’re almost more essential to the Bloody Mary than the vodka itself. On that note, I chose to add my vodka towards the end, rather than let it cook out, because it should live up to the name, right? You could add it earlier on in the cooking process, along with the vegetable stock, to make this more family friendly, if you absolutely had to.
Happy hour and dinnertime often overlap, so why not cut to the chase and make both count? If it’s too hard to get past the idea of Bloody Mary soup being different from the original cocktail, then just think of it like a surprisingly relaxing, mildly intoxicating tomato soup, and you won’t be disappointed.
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