A question for the group: Would amaranth be considered paleo? (Don't all yawn at once....) I was at my local farmers market, and someone was selling amaranth leaves, which he said were used in Africa and some Asian countries. They were very delicous, kind of nutty flavored. ALmost looked like a large begonia or perilla leaf. O.K., so those are paleo cause they can be used in salad....... But what about the seeds? I got some from my health co-op, and apparantly its not a grain. Cooks up like chewy porridge, low in gluten, high in iron and protein. I think one could eat it raw, although it would probably pass right through the gut because its so tiny... It was really tasty cooked, tho... Then, I also roasted up some chestnuts. I assume they are on the O.K. list, but really, folks, they are not edible raw. So, I am a bit confused by the paleo restriction of "edible raw". Many nuts and seeds COULD be eaten raw if you had no other choice, but why would you want to make yourself sick by doing so? Many aboriginals knew to cook or roast or soak their seeds to make them more digestible. But back to amaranth. We have a noxious weed in our area called pigweed or red root. It literally takes over the garden. Years ago, I recall someone telling me that it was also called amaranth. It would produce a bushy red seed head at maturity. I assume that is where all the tiny amaranth seeds were located. I imagine if one were to collect those heads, and shake them, voila, amaranth seeds!!! So why wouldn't it be paleo? I guess I am going in circles here, so could someone out there help me stop spinning... Thanks, Judy Genova, cavegirl who just finished reading book one of Clan of the Cave Bear (thanks Rachel) and wonders what "porridge" the members of the clan were actually eating in one breakfast scene ....... the author doesn't go into detail! _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com