5 Beautiful Slow-Cooker Meals

As if we needed another reason to love our slow cookers, here it is: These delicious dinners not only redefine convenience food, they also prove that long-simmered soups and stews can be gorgeous, too.

A Year-Round Corn Chowder

Lisa Lillien, known to her readers as Hungry Girl, has a somewhat unexpected way to chase the winter blues away: She makes a veggie soup that relies on sweet, summery corn (from the freezer aisle) for a lively taste—and look. The recipe, which is in her newest book, Hungry Girl Clean & Hungry, also includes cauliflower, red bell pepper, onion and baby red potatoes (leave the skins on for even more color), plus a bit of unsweetened almond milk for thickness. It's lovely any time of year, but will especially perk you up on a day when summer barbecues seem light-years away.

Get the recipe: Cauliflower and Corn Soup