Happy Mardi Gras! Parades begin in earnest this weekend in New Orleans, getting off to a chilly start today for the walking parades and the night parades. It'll be a little warmer this weekend. There are celebrations all over the state, but New Orleans is busiest, with more than a dozen parades this weekend. We'll get a break Monday and Tuesday, then start up again Wednesday night, going non-stop through to Mardi Gras Day on March 4.

For the recipes this week, first up, an easy recipe for seafood stuffed bell peppers; use your favorite cornbread recipe. Next, roasted salmon over savory horseradish mashed potatoes. And finally, tis the season for crawfish! Make this decadent mac and cheese with a full pound of crawfish and worry about calories later.

Enjoy the recipes, stay safe and healthy, and, as always, let me know what's on your mind.

Best regards,

Susan Ford, Publisher and Editorial Director

Louisiana Kitchen & Culture

Previous week's recipes:

 • New Iberia Seafood Gumbo Pie • Steak with Parsley Sauce • Black Bottom Pie

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Seafood Stuffed Bell Peppers

The prep work for this easy recipe can be pulled together in about the amount of time it takes to bake a pan of your favorite cornbread. Once it's done, assemble the peppers and bake undisturbed for 30 minutes. Halving the peppers lengthwise before stuffing them cuts down on baking time.

Roasted Salmon and Horseradish Potatoes

Using roasted potatoes to make mashed potatoes yields a fluffier dish; you could streamline this meal by boiling the potatoes instead, but the end result won't be the same. Use the roasting time to season the fish and make the horseradish cream.

Crawfish Mac and Cheese

Mac and Cheese is up there on the list of comfort foods, and the addition of a full pound of crawfish tails pushes this over the top. If your local grocery doesn't carry frozen Louisiana crawfish tails, a quick online search yields lots of options. Yes, it's an indulgence, but it's well worth it occasionally. Just make sure they're not imported crawfish.