This morning, I pulled out all the fixins for one of my very favorite slow-cooker meals of all time: Vegetarian sausage-corn chowder! Forget for a moment that the autumnal air became more of a summertime stickiness after today’s rain and before tonight’s cold front – sausage-corn chowder always brings out the best of the cooler months and makes any night feel like an Arctic blast is just waiting to rush through the area.
Believe it or not, we’ve still got about a zillion pounds of potatoes from August just waiting to be used. They’ve whiled away the days and weeks hanging out in paper bags underneath one of our countertops, on a shelf in the cabinet, and they’ve held up so well in the ensuing months! Every week or so, I pull out a handful of spuds to use in one dish or another, and I couldn’t be more tickled at how well they’ve stayed in fighting form all this time.
So this morning I grabbed about four medium to large potatoes, washed them well, and then diced them up, along with half a huge onion and a package of vegetarian sausage links. Next I added two cans of corn – one kernel, one creamed – and some basil, salt, and pepper, along with about two cups of water for good measure. After that, dinner was done! (Well, almost.) All that was left to do was to cook for the lion’s share of the day. And by the time I got home from work, the potatoes were soft and the house smelled delightful.
I added a can of evaporated milk to the mix then and let it heat up for 10 minutes or so while I chatted with my mom on the telephone. Then it was time to eat!
As per usual, we each enjoyed several helpings of chowder. It’s just too good not to! But never fear: There’s plenty of chowder left for lunch tomorrow. We’ve still got some fried rice left, too, from two nights ago – an embarrassment of riches!
:)