I feel like I re-upped my Southern license tonight with this dish, y’all. I’d been wanting to try my hand at a vegan/vegetarian version of a low-country boil for some time, and last week’s CSA box – the one I referred to yesterday, remember, that brought us so many veggies we were woefully outnumbered – gave me just the opportunity. Ears of corn? Potatoes? Supplemented by some beautiful sweet onions from Mr. Lopez’s farm stand? One low-country boil, coming right up!
To me, the low-country boil is the perfect slow-cooker meal. Everything needs to boil till tender in the first place, and the whole point of this recipe is to be an easy one-pot supper that feeds a crowd. It was practically made for the Crock-Pot! So that’s just what I did this morning.
The prep was a snap – 15 minutes of cutting, chopping, and mixing, and I was on my way to work. I sliced three ears of corn into halves, then roughly diced several small potatoes (many low-country boil recipes call for whole potatoes, but these were larger, and we like smaller pieces), then very roughly quartered an onion and let the rings fall where they may, and then sliced four Tofurky Italian sausages into rounds (in perfect honesty I was looking for chorizo, but our grocery store was out – and these sausages worked perfectly!). I added all of the above to the Crock-Pot with a package of vegan shrimp, a very generous helping of Old Bay seasoning, and as much water as I could get to fit, and put the lid on tight.
The crockery cooked on Low for about 9 hours until about 30 minutes before serving, when I texted LeeLee from the animal shelter to ask him to kick it to High, just to get the juices flowing.
Whoa! When I got home from work, the house smelled delightful, and the low-country boil was, well, boiling quite nicely. All that was left to do at that point was pour the ingredients into a colander to drain off all the water, then return the whole kit and caboodle to the crockery for serving. I know, I know – the traditional way is to pour it all out across a sheet of newspapers. But we were dining inside, within pouncing distance of the cat, and I just didn’t want to fool with it, you know?
But newspaper or no, the final product was wonderfully tasty. Each ingredient had slow-cooked to perfection, and the Old Bay seasoning managed to find its way in to each component with aplomb. And if you’re one of those folks who finds Old Bay too heavy for their liking, don’t worry; it’s not in this dish! The water takes care of a lot of the additional seasoning, and it drains right off, leaving you with a great flavor that’s not overpowering.
The shrimp held up perfectly and resembled the real deal; the sausage took on enough of the seasoning to be low-country in nature but yet also maintained some of what it came in with (as in all good relationships, you know?). The potatoes softened perfectly and the onions shone with lovely translucence. And the corn was so tender and so sweet! The perfect summer treat, indeed.
I’m happy to say we have plenty left for lunch tomorrow, which is a relief, because both LeeLee and I loved this dish. I can’t wait to break it out in college-football season for all our friends!
The recipe’s below.
VEGAN LOW-COUNTRY BOIL
Serves 4
What you’ll need:
1 onion, sliced into quarters (don’t fret if the rings begin to separate)
4 medium to small potatoes, sliced to your liking (or left intact)
3 ears of corn, cut in half crosswise
4 vegan sausage links (chorizo or Italian work best)
1 package vegan shrimp
3 tbsp. Old Bay seasoning
Water to fill up the slow cooker
Put all of the above in the slow cooker and stir to combine. You may have to work a bit to get the vegetables to settle in such a way that you can place the lid on tight; that’s OK! Your game of Tetris will be worth it when mealtime comes and you’ve got more veggies than you know what to do with.
Turn the heat to Low and cook for 8-10 hours. In the last half-hour of cooking time, turn the heat to High to let the water really boil.
Next, drain the slow-cooker contents into a colander and place the drained vegetables and protein in the Crock-Pot again. Serve, and enjoy!
:)