Cooking enthusiasts and reality-show fanatics looking for something to fulfill both appetites, look no further.

The seventh season of MasterChef, which premieres on FOX Wednesday at 7 p.m., features Lincoln County native Katie Dixon as one of 40 home cooks to be welcomed in Los Angeles by award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay and renowned pastry chef Christina Tosi. Viewers will be able to watch Dixon chop her way through the MasterChef Battle of the Apron, hopefully making it into the MasterChef kitchen to compete for the coveted title, a cookbook deal and the $250,000 grand prize prize.

Dixon auditioned for the show in Jackson several months ago, though she never dreamed she’d be picked to compete on the show. She was one of more than 22,000 hopeful cooks to audition nationwide.

“I filled the MasterChef application out two days before the audition in Jackson,” Dixon said. “One of my friends texted me a picture of the audition flyer and said, ‘Katie, you should do this.’ I did not think there was anyway in the world I would make it. I still can’t believe it. I am in shock about the whole experience.”

Despite her nonchalant attitude about the audition, Dixon drove from Hattiesburg to cook for the MasterChef crew. For her first dish, she paired salmon burgers with a kale salad and sweet potato curry fries. “From there, I went on to the next round and cuts began,” she said.

While other contestants fell, Dixon continued to shine through a series of interviews and activities for the crew to get to know her better.

“I had to write down my best cooking experiences and narrow down my favorite recipes,” Dixon said. “I traveled to Austin for psych exams and cooked a lot in between.”

Dixon’s love for food first began when she watched her grandfather tend his garden in Lincoln County. Although Dixon currently lives in Hattiesburg, she still claims Brookhaven as her hometown. She graduated from Brookhaven Academy in 2001 and went on to study at Mississippi College and the University of Southern Mississippi, which is the alma mater of FOX’s first MasterChef, Whitney Miller Humphrey.

“I think seeing food go from its original state in my grandfather’s garden to the finished product on my grandmother’s table made me love cooking and food,” Dixon said. “Cooking means family to me. It’s a smile.”

Dixon’s happiest times have been eating and cooking. “I was kind of small as a child and when I learned that you can use food as fuel for your body, I fell in love with cooking even more,” she said.

Learning to eat the proper food, allowed Dixon to play with bigger athletes, especially in college.

Food has also allowed Dixon to travel, and she’s picked up tips along the way. She learned to cook street tacos from a woman in Panama, even though the two chefs spoke different languages. Food was their common thread.

“When I cook, I go to ‘Katie land,’ as everyone calls it,” Dixon said. “I love to travel to different parts of the world and the United States to learn how to prepare food a different way.”

Dixon describes her cooking style as ‘Simply Southern’ because she loves to throw her southern roots into her food.

“I definitely cook with my southern roots,” Dixon said. “But I try to cook the typical southern dishes in a healthier way. I like to put a fresh spin on our southern meals. One big passion for me is to educate people on how to put something together that is healthy, delicious and good for your body. I like to show people how food can make you feel good.”

Dixon will be the only contestant in the MasterChef kitchen representing the Magnolia state.

“I love being the only person from Mississippi this season,” Dixon said. “I am happy to give Mississippi a good face in this competition. So many people have never traveled here, so it has been great to show the other competitors what are food culture is like and what we are really like — that we love people, love our southern hospitality and that we have a lot of farmland that we can get fresh ingredients from for our meals.”

She continued, “I am super excited to share my life changing experience with all of the viewers, but especially with the state of Mississippi. I am thankful for my family and friends that supported me to do something incredible for myself.”

In the season opener, according to the FOX website, Dixon and 39 of “the best home cooks in America” will be judged by Ramsay and Tosi for their use of flavor and creativity and their presentation.

To advance to the next round, cooks must display culinary skills, “as well as an immense passion for food, and be determined to out-cook their rivals.”

Those who survive the Battle for the Apron will be put through their paces in a series of challenges designed to test their palates, food knowledge, passion and culinary skills.

Dixon could not say how far she has progressed in the competition.