Thanks all

The white bottom of green onions for cooking, the green tops for fresh garnish. It won't have the soft onion flavor of shallots, but it also won't be as harsh as a regular onion.

You might also try a sweet onion (Vidalia, TexasSweet or similar), even though such onions aren't normally used in cooking. And you could use a regular yellow, white or red onion--chop, dice or mince, place in a sieve or colander and rinse with hot tap water.

I've had to resort to all three of these substitutions--they all work, but they will give the same recipe three different flavors, all of them good.

Finely chopped onions; sweet onions if you have access. Don't fret about it. Shallots are part of the onion family. Just a fancy name.

A bit of red onion works nicely. Shallots are supposed to taste a bit like a cross between onion and garlic though I've never thought so. If you want the garlic part too add a bit of roasted garlic which is milder that full on raw garlic.