COOKING DINNER ON THE WOODSTOVE

    I commonly cook my meals on top of my woodstove in the winter. Black bean, lentil, and pea soups do not take long to cook and somehow seem to taste better for having been prepared over wood heat. Legumes are an economical and highly nutritious food -- and if prepared with imagination, very tasty. I typically add a lot of bay leaves and dried mushrooms (great buys from the reduced shelf that I dry) for flavour -- the house smells great while the pot simmers.
    Tonight I will have pea soup;  tomorrow the thickened soup will be perfect for breaded patties broiled along with my organic CSA vegetables.
    My little house has to be heated anyway at this time of year, so putting a pot on the woodstove is no trouble. Not having to use my electric stove during the high daytime rates is very satisfying. 

photo:  My older Vermont Castings woodstove with an cast iron Jove's head in the foreground to store and radiate heat.... newly oiled (with olive oil) snowshoes in the background await first use. All are second-hand.