I’m so excited! My book, The Vegan Slow Cooker, was released early and many people who pre-ordered at Amazon will get theirs this week!

This soup was pretty much an accident. I had no intention of adding pumpkin to my new chick’n chowder. However, I freeze my puréed pumpkin in ice cubes just like I do my homemade bouillon. I do label the bags, but if you don’t actually read them bad (and good) things can happen.

Luckily this was a happy mistake – my favorite kind. Once I realized I had put pumpkin cubes in instead of bouillon ones, I changed my plan and added some more pumpkin. I didn’t notice that much difference in the flavor, but it does add more nutritional goodies.

I used a local vegan chick’n called Soy Delight, but your favorite chick’n should work just fine. If you are anti-fake-meat feel free to substitute cubes of pressed tofu, wheat gluten, or even white beans.

Also, if you avoid pre-packaged non-dairy sour cream, use pureed silken tofu or cashew cream instead. It’s your soup after all – so make it the way you like it.

Don’t forget that you can easily make your own pumpkin purée, in the slow cooker of course! Go ahead and get some of those pie pumpkins that are showing up at the farmers market. You can stock up for winter and spring!

Make sure to get in on the giveaway this week at Busy Vegan. Just go to this Busy Vegan link and add a comment to the post there. In the bag is a super cool OXO peppermill, some tasty peppercorns to fill it from My Spice Sage, and a postcard with my recipe for Slow Cooker Tempeh Braised with Figs and Port Wine.  I have coupons I’ll be adding and a few other bonuses too. There will be 2 winners!

Also please like the Healthy Slow Cooking Facebook page if you haven’t already and please spread the word to your friends!

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chick’n Chowder – serves 4

Cooking Time: 6 to 8  hours on low (or 3 to 4 on high)

• 1/2 cup pumpkin purée
• 1 medium potato, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
• 1 1/2 cup vegan chick’n, cubed package (Gardein, Soy Delight, Smart Strips Chick’n, etc.)
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 bay leave
• 1 tablespoon vegan chick’n bouillon, like Better than Bouillon (or 2 tablespoons of the one from my book if you have it)
• 4 cups water
• cayenne or chipotle powder to taste
• 1/2 cup non-dairy Toffuti sour cream
• 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious – it’s the thickest and great for soups.)
• salt and pepper to taste (will vary greatly on the bouillon used)

The night before: Cut up the veggies and chick’n. Thaw pumpkin purée if you have it frozen. Store together in one bowl in the fridge.

In the morning: Add everything except the non-dairy milk, Toffuti sour cream, and the extra salt or pepper. Cook on low for 6 to 8 (or on high for 3 to 4 hours).

Remove bay leaf and thyme stems (if you used fresh thyme). Then add the non-dairy milk and sour cream. Make sure you thoroughly mix them in the soup. Then taste your soup, and add more salt, pepper, cayenne, or thyme if needed.

If you want a thicker soup you can take about 1/3 of the soup and purée it in a blender or food processor and then mix it into the rest of the soup. Personally I liked the thinner soup.

Serve topped with shredded vegan cheddar, extra vegan sour cream, and/or chopped chives if desired.