CULINARY THRILL SEEKING — Texas treat with dinosaur food info and more

Did dinosaurs eat the rainbow?

Did they eat grass?

There wasn’t any grass yet!

Herbivores went for flowers and fruits.

Among the first plants to colonize dry lands are cycads, some stubby, fernlike “gymnosperms,” is a “bite” of info I gleaned from Jurassic World: The Exhibition, now up in Katy, Texas.

What a fun deal, set up like you’re riding a ferry to get to the park and even the lab.

I craved salad the whole time while learning about some eating habits of those big guys:

• The first trees evolved about 385 million years ago, but looked more like giant ferns.
• Most ginkoes went extinct approximately two and a half million years ago and today only one species remains, the extremely stinky Ginkgo Bilboa

This park exhibit, set up at Katy Mills Mall’s parking lot, has big old beasts behind gates and some terrific guides who let you pet a baby and put the scare into you as well.

Kids loved researching dino leavings, illustrating little bones in carnivore poop and a different texture for the plant eaters. Wouldn’t want to imagine IBS in none of those.

But back to fine colorful eats.

How can you eat the rainbow?

This concept is basically eating a variety of real foods to get your nutrients. Go beyond iceberg lettuce and tomatoes and experiment with vegetables and fruits.

I think this rainbow phrase is great for getting children into the act.

Because purple is a favorite rainbow color, here’s some of these options: blueberries, blackberries, Concord grapes, red/purple cabbage, eggplant, plums and elderberries.

For more on what dinosaurs ate, get to this exhibit to experience a feeding gone wrong. You have to imagine that there’s an escape scenario, but don’t worry.

Everyone is ushered safely into the gift shop.

It was FUN!

Learn more about this exhibit, in the area through Oct. 27, at jurassicworldexhibition.com.

Darragh Doiron is a Southeast Texas foodie eating the rainbow, especially if that includes red for crawfish and green for pistachio ice cream. Email her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com .

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