Crock-Pot Veggie Chowder

I don't want to jinx myself, but I just might be getting the hang of combining ingredients to make something relatively tasty.

I love having a crock-pot, love using it, and always have such high expectation for dishes that are prepared with it. I think it's a great appliance to use during the summer to keep from having to heat up your house, and I even used it to make the main dish and cake for my daughter's 2nd birthday party. I love that it's uses have extended beyond chili's, soups, and stews to desserts, appetizers, and even things that don't require 8 hours to cook. But - and I know it's mostly of my own doing - a lot of meals I've made via crock-pot have turned out less than stellar so I'm never quite sure if 8 hours in the crock-pot will ultimately result in a last-minute pizza-run.

With it getting cold, I flipped through my Barnes and Noble bargain-rack find, Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes for something I had yet to attempt: soup. I opened the "Beyond Basic Soups" section and selected a nice variety for the week, one of them being "Easy Corn Chowder."

This is the book's recipe:

2 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth
16 oz bag frozen corn, thawed
3 small red potatoes cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 rib celery, sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp coriander
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled.

And this is what I actually used:

3.5 cups chicken broth
1 16oz bag frozen "farmer's mix:" corn, carrots, and green beans, un-thawed (if I see an opportunity to throw more vegetables in, I take it)
3 small/medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Variety of small red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, eyeballed to equal 1 whole pepper, diced
1 green onion chopped
2 Tbs dried onion
1 rib celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 tsp fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
8 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

To be completely honest, I hadn't realized the recipe called for UN-thawed frozen veggies until just now. Also, I had some time to kill so a lot of the cooked bacon might have gone missing. I can't be sure.

The instructions state to put all of the ingredients, minus the heavy cream and bacon, in the crock pot, cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. I didn't get everything in the pot until it was late enough so we'd be eating like fashionable Manhattan-ites, so I cooked it on low for the first 4.5 hours, then switched it to high for the last 1.5/2.

The recipe then states to partially mash the soup with a potato masher in order to thicken it up, stir in the cream, then turn to high until heated through. I got a little carried away with the potato masher, though. Then I added the heavy cream and let it cook on high while I heated some garlic bread in the oven.

I sprinkled the bacon on top as instructed but used it so it was more of an added ingredient rather than a garnish. I think it had such a good impact on the overall flavor of the soup that I might try harder to rein in my bacon-eating and add the 8 slices after the heavy cream is heated through rather than spreading it around to individual servings.

Overall, though, the soup - what I now call "Veggie Chowder," - was amazing. My husband - upon hearing it was 90-percent vegetables - was initially hesitant only to find himself finishing his bowl, and surprising himself with how much he liked it and how filling it was. I surprised myself, actually, and now I'm wondering how I can sell it to Campbell's...