The beans, sometimes compared to carob, were also used by Native Americans, mixed with water, to make a refreshing, nutritious cold drink. It was also used by early cowboys as a substitute for coffee. The flowers of the mesquite plant produce a superb honey. The root and sap of mesquite have been used as an anesthetic salve, and as glue and hair dye. The leaves have been used as laundry brightener and as a fertilizer.
Many Southwestern ranchers consider the mesquite a daunting enemy to good grazing.
The delicate, smoky flavor of mesquite cooking has been a favorite of the indigenous people and Mexican cowboys or Vaqueros of New Mexico for centuries. With charcoal, let fire burn to coals, drain chips and add handfuls directly to coals. When chips start to smoke, begin cooking. With gas and electric grills, place two large handfuls of dry chips on a sheet of heavy duty foil and fold into a flat pouch. Begin cooking when chips begin to smoke.