P90X: Planning, Preparation, Acheivement

Why nearly half of the recipes in the P90X nutritional guide call for shallots is beyond me. This obtuse little onion (a cross breed between garlic and onion) swims in turbid sea of confusion. Does it make a real difference? It can, but often only to the more-scrutinizing of pallets.

A clear substitution is to take 2/3 a tablespoon of minced onion to 1/3 a tablespoon of minced garlic. Which onions? Spanish onions (yellow/brown) tend to work best.

From a culinary perspective, P90x robs you of two of the best and tastiest seasonings known to man: salt and butter. As a trade-off for this injustice, they've created a rather fancy menu plan with novel ingredients aimed at wetting your taste-buds. It's an excellent effort, and I laud them for it. However, unless you're using a rarer and fresh shallot, such as the purple bulbs, you may not be able to discern the difference. One author has given a wonderful overview of the shallot, which I encourage you to read. For most, I recommend you try the substitution, as it will save you coin and nobody (including yourself) will be the wiser.

Shallots: 2:1 ratio of parts onion to garlic.