I tried this recipe from a slow cooker cookbook (Secrets of Slow Cooking by Liana Krissoff) based on the title. And it's true! It really is easy. Aaaaannnnd, it's tasty too.

This chowder can take on whatever consistency you prefer for your chunky soups. It just requires water instead of a stock so it saves a lot of time if you normally make your own stock. I appreciate the flavor of onions but not the texture so I diced mine in the food processor until they were tiny bits. Also, the carrots and potatoes were diced into little bits. You could chop them into bigger chunks and it would probably change the dynamic of the dish but still be delicious. One point to note, however, is that it was great to have the corn be the largest chunks of food since they were the main ingredient. I didn't have any celery on hand so it wasn't in my dish but it didn't seem to matter. I used frozen organic corn and that was delicious, although I'm sure fresh corn would be even better. For the salt, I used a black truffle sea salt from our local Spice Merchant. Since it can be stronger than regular salt, I started with 1/2 teaspoon but after cooking the chowder and tasting it, ended up using the full teaspoon anyway; which means you may be adding more salt before you serve the dish. After standing in the dairy section at the grocery store looking for "heavy cream" I realized the author meant heavy whipping cream. You probably already knew this but it was news to me. 

I don't have a picture because we finished it before I realized I was going to post about it. I was not too excited about the dish after the initial cooking but once the slurry, cream and parsley were added, it transformed into something spectacular. We loved it! 
 
Ingredients:
1/2 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 interior ribs celery, diced, leaves reserved
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups sweet corn kernels (cut off 4 cobs, or frozen)
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 

Directions:
Put the onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, corn, and bay leaf in a 4-quart slow cooker. After cooking, my 4 qt crockpot was not full so, in theory, you could have a larger crockpot and double the recipe. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper, then pour in 2 1/2 cups water. Cook, covered, on the low setting for 4 to 5 hours, until the vegetables are soft.

Ladle some of the liquid into a small cup and add the flour to the cup, stirring until smooth. Pour the slurry back into the soup and stir to combine; cook on the high setting for 30 minutes, or until thickened slightly.

Mince the celery leaves. Stir in the cream, along with the parsley and celery leaves. taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve hot.