Rice Pilaf Substitution by Guest Writer, "Heider Pied" Also a fail proof Alaska Salmon supper.

Whenever anyone asks what our family favorite recipe is this is the first one that comes to mind.  We've passed this recipe on to friends and family more than any other recipe; period.

It was gifted to me by my mother-in-law who I believe got the recipe from a beloved family friend of all our families.  People! I say!  Whenever possible have people hand write the recipes they are giving you.
My mother-in-law has passed on now and I am so happy to have a few of recipes in her hand writing.

Notice above I changed the margarine note to butter as we have a thing going on against using margarine.

Someone in my husband's family organized a recipe card collection for me when I was first engaged.  I think this is the main one I keep going back to though I've made this so frequently it is in my head.

Recently I got a phone call from one of my sisters letting me know she didn't have everything she needed one evening to make the usual recipe but came up with a wonderful substitute.  I asked for photos and and text for adding to this blog.

From My sister "Heider-Pied":

"Planned dinner tonight was to consist of Baked Salmon, Rice Pilaf, and Salad.  
I pulled the salmon out of the freezer this morning and plopped it in the baking dish.  I sprinkled it with garlic powder, onion powder, dill, oregano, a little pepper, and some garlic salt.  I tend  to avoid the sugar recipes when I do salmon, because our family LOVES salmon chowder with the leftovers.  The spices that I used work well in the salmon chowder. In the oven for 350 degrees until done.  I usually plan on 45 minutes to an hour.

We also love rice pilaf when having Salmon.  Our favorite recipe is (my sister's) Famous Rice Pilaf.  However, after sticking the butter and onion in the pan, I realized that I was out of white rice.  Oops!  Well, I don't want to drag all three kids to the store when we have a t-ball game in an hour!  Time is of the essence!  After double checking the cupboards and  considering using instant rice, my eyes landed on the Quinoa.  Hmmmm.....The directions say simmer for 15 minutes. Well, that may just work.  So I measured out the same amount of Quinoa as the recipe calls for rice and put that in, saute it for a bit in the butter then add Chicken Base, water, and the noodles and let it simmer until the water is gone.  

The smell was a little different than the rice, so I was in doubt. I gingerly stuck it in front of my three children and awaited the groans as normally rice pilaf is one of their favorites, and here I was messing with it!  Success!  All three of them loved it!  So did I!  I have made Quinoa before and two of my kids like it just fine and the third puts up with it!  We will be doing this again!  They all had seconds!"