On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:19:09 -0700, Dianne Heins <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> I was speaking botanically:
> 
> "  Scientific classification: Carob belongs to the subfamily
> Caesalpinioideae, family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae). It is
> classified as Ceratonia siliqua."
> [http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761562975]
> 
> "(Ceratonia siliqua), tree of the pea family (Fabaceae)..."
> [http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/1/0,5716,20741+1+20424,00.html?qu
> ery=carob]

Lest anyone automatically think legumes are not paleo foods:

"Roots, beans, nuts, tubers, fruits, flowers, and gums provide hunters and
gatherers with a greater quantity and wider variety of vitamins and minerals
than farming did for agriculturalists."    (From page 74, The Paleolithic
Prescription.)  

"Numerous legume seeds were available to our African ancestors, for example
the 'morama bean', Tylosema esculentum,  which grows in sandy arid to
semi-arid areas of the more Southern parts of Africa and tastes like cashews
when roasted. In addition to having a large edible tuber, this legume has
pods containing one to two oil and protein rich seeds with a nutritional
value similar to soya beans or peanuts (the protein content ranges between
30% to 39% - the oil content is in the 36% to 43 % range). The widespread
Acacia spp. mostly have edible and sustaining gums, but one, A. albida has
seeds eaten in times of food shortage. The shrubby Bauhinia petersiana of
Southern Africa is an extremely important food for several months of the
year for the Kade Bushmen of the Kalahari, who gather and roast their
nutritious beans. Another important legume seed for the Bushmen is 'Chivi',
Guibourtia coleosperma, of the arid sandy areas of the more northern parts
of Southern Africa. The pod encloses a fleshy aril from which an edible oil
is extracted, and the single seed is a staple food of Bushmen, especially as
they are edible for a long time after having fallen from the tree. This seed
is valued by the Bushmen as second only to the mongongo (manketti) nut. Some
tribes regard them only a famine food, others boil them for long periods or
soak them before eating, and others merely roast them. According to an
unpublished manuscript (Maguire, B 1954) quoted in 'Food from the Veldt' by
F.Fox and M. Norwood-Young, the bushman eat about 25kg each per week. This
quantity seems a little unlikely, and it may perhaps be 2.5kg per person per
week. Anyway, these seeds are available to the tribespeople for the better
part of the year. According to the authors of the previously mentioned book,
the seeds of another leguminous shrub, the 'Hottentot's bean', Schotia afra,
of the Cape Province of South Africa, "...were eaten by Stone Age Man."
Seeds of three species in this genus have been recorded as food used by
African people, both savannah and scrubby woodlands having representatives.
The only African legumes to be eventually domesticated seems to be the
lablab bean, the cowpea, and the guar bean. "

The above was taken from:
http://www.naturalhub.com/natural_food_guide_grains_beans_seeds.htm

Don