Dillons to host book signing with Food Network Star

Dillons Marketplace at Central and Rock in Wichita will host a book signing by 'The Next Food Network Star' and 'Ten Dollars Dinners' on the Food Network, Melissa d'Arabian. The event takes place on Monday, August 20 at 6:00 PM.

During the event, autographed books of Melissa d’Arabian’s debut cookbook, Ten Dollar Dinners: 140 Recipes and Tips to Elevate Simple, Fresh Meals Any Night of the Week will be available for $14.99 with your Dillons PlusCard (regular retail is $24.99)!

In Melissa d’Arabian’s debut cookbook, Ten Dollar Dinners: 140 Recipes and Tips to Elevate Simple, Fresh Meals Any Night of the Week (Clarkson Potter/Publishers; $24.99; August 14, 2012), the Food Network star provides approachable recipes, smart saving strategies, and practical tips for satisfying meals – all within a larger context of eating well, being a responsible consumer, and spending with purpose.

A wife and mother of four young daughters, and winner of The Next Food Network Star, Melissa makes good on her unwavering $10 promise of dinner for four. This ultimate guide to affordable and impressive home cooking will appeal to all readers – even those not on a budget – and leave them pleasantly surprised at just how elegant, plentiful, nutritious and downright delicious budget cooking can be.

Drawing on personal life experiences – growing up on a tight budget, earning her MBA and working in corporate America, and managing her own family’s resources as a stay-at-home and then working parent – Melissa easily relates to home cooks and encourages them to think about cooking in a different way. In Ten Dollar Dinners, Melissa proves that fresh ingredients and sophisticated flavor profiles have a place at the budget-cooking table.

 In addition to its 11 chapters filled with fresh recipes and mouthwatering photographs, Ten Dollar Dinners features handy tools and information like guidelines for a robust pantry and clever mix-and-match cost-coding system for countless menu options.

Whether trying a clear-the-pantry week, keeping flavor enhancers like bacon or fresh ginger in the freezer, stretching expensive ingredients alongside inexpensive ones, or finding creative uses for leftovers, Melissa provides more than 100 simple yet effective tips for shopping, cooking and ingredient management.

A pro at conjuring flavor and style from common supermarket ingredients, Melissa’s company-worthy recipes are easy enough for a weeknight family meal but also elegant enough for weekend entertaining. Featured recipes include:

• APPETIZERS AND SNACKS: Caprese Tartlets, White Bean Tapenade Crostini, Bacon Deviled Eggs with Tuna Tartare, Spanish Tortilla, Caramelized Onion Pizzettas

• SOUPS AND SALADS: Creamy Any Veggie Soup, Quick Black Bean Chili, Clam Chowder with Crispy Bacon, Tuna Panzanella Salad, Tomato Salad-Topped Grilled Pizza

• FISH AND SEAFOOD: Thyme and Lemon-Infused Fish en Papillote, Shrimp Pad Thai, Poor Man’s Paella, Salmon Cakes, Spiced Tilapia Tacos with Red Cabbage-Jalapeno Slaw

• CHICKEN: Easy Coq au Vin, Four-Step Chicken Piccata, Spinach and Cheese-Stuffed Chicken with Lemon Butter, Chicken Meatballs