Al's Kitchen

Vegetarian Recipes for Everyone

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Hi! I’m Al, and I’ve been a vegetarian since 2018. Since then, I have discovered a love of cooking and hosting, which leads to me often feeding my meat-eating loved ones. I hope you enjoy my recipes and give them a try. You can support these recipes at https://ko-fi.com/alskitchen

  • Chicken-less Noodle Soup

    Chicken-less Noodle Soup

    Prep: 15 minutes. Cook time: 45 minutes. Serves 6-8 people. Vegetarian, can be made Vegan or GF.

    This soup comes together in about an hour, most of which is just spent letting the broth simmer.

    Ingredients

    • 3 large carrots
    • 4 stalks of celery
    • 1 yellow onion
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 8 cups of water
    • 1 tbsp of Better than Bouillon Vegetarian No Chicken Base
    • 2 strands of saffron
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 1/2 tbsp dried dill
    • 1/2 tbsp dried thyme
    • Pinch of red pepper flake
    • Salt
    • Pepper
    • 16 oz medium egg noodles (to make vegan/gf, sub for preferred noodles)
    1. Make the Broth. Begin by preparing the mirepoix. Dice the celery into quarter-inch pieces, cut the carrots into 1-inch rounds, and thinly slice the onion. Heat a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, and warm the oil. Once warm, begin cooking your mirepoix until softened. Stir occasionally. In the meantime, mince the 2 cloves garlic. Or use jar-lic. I won’t tell! Then, once the mirepoix is soft, pour the water in. Add in the garlic, no chicken base, and spices. Hold off on the salt for now. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.
    2. Cook the Noodles. Meanwhile, as the broth is simmering cook the egg noodles separately from the soup. Follow package directions, and drain. This will prevent them from becoming overcooked, particularly if you’re eating this soup as leftovers later. After 30 minutes of simmering, season your broth with salt to taste.
    3. Serve. To serve, place a serving of your drained noodles into the bowl, and ladle hot broth over top, making sure to get plenty of vegetables.

    This broth makes a great base to a variety of soups. Add ginger and chili for a spicy soup, replace the noodles with matzo balls for Passover, or add tofu for higher protein. You have plenty of room to experiment! For weeknight dinners, I use dried herbs, but when making for a crowd, I usually prefer fresh. Do what works best for you!

    I hope you give this a try! If you do, leave a comment and let me know how it went! Please consider subscribing to receive more of my recipes directly in your inbox. It’s free, and you’ll only receive emails when I post another ad-free, seo-bullshit-story-free recipe.
    -Al

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  • Vegetarian “Beef” Stew

    Vegetarian “Beef” Stew

    Prep: 30 minutes. Cook time: 1.5 hours. Serves 6-8 people. Vegetarian, not GF or Vegan.

    A bowl of stew with seitan served over creamy pomme purée, garnished with carrots and onions, placed on a wooden table.

    This stew comes together in roughly 2 hours and three parts. First, you make a simple seitan, then you make the actual stew, and then the pomme pureé.

    Ingredients

    Seitan:

    • 2 cups vital wheat gluten
    • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
    • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
    • 1 cup water
    • 1/2 cup soy sauce
    • 1 tbsp onion powder
    • 1 tbsp garlic power

    Stew:

    • Prepared seitan
    • 5 large carrots
    • 2 yellow onions
    • 1.5 cups flour
    • Pinot noir (1/2 bottle)
    • 1 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base
    • 3 Bay leaves
    • 1 tbsp dried rosemary
    • 1 tbsp dried thyme
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • 8 tbsp butter
    • 1/2 to 1 cup soy sauce

    Pomme purée:

    • 5 large russet potatoes
    • 8 tbsp butter
    • 1/2-1 cup heavy cream
    1. Make the seitan: Begin by preparing the seitan. In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and then stir in the wet ingredients. Knead for a minute or two until you get a tough workable dough. If you have lots of dry bits stuck to the bowl, add another tablespoon or two of water. I originally got this recipe from The Ugly Vegan, but have changed some of proportions.
    2. Starting the Stew: Preheat the oven to 400℉. Thinly slice the onions into rounds and your carrots into 1 inch oblique cuts. In an oven-safe heavy bottomed pot (I use a dutch oven), melt the butter. Once melted, begin to cook your carrots and onions over medium-low heat. Cook until your onions are soft and golden. Then, deglaze with wine, and add in your flour. You should get a very thick, purplish paste.
    3. Adding Liquid and Seasoning: Fill your pot halfway up with water, and add in the herbs, vegetable base, bay leaves, a bit of salt, and lots of fresh black pepper. Crank the heat up to medium high. Then, divide your seitan dough into 4 parts. Roll each part into a roughly shaped log. It will be ugly and not perfect. Using kitchen shears, cut the logs into 2 inch long bites on the bias directly into the stew. Stir occasionally as you do this so they don’t stick together. Once all of your seitan is in the pot, cover with lid and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
    4. Pomme purées: While your stew is in the oven, peel and cut the potatoes into 2 inch cubes. Boil in salted water until fork tender. If you have a potato ricer, rice your potatoes. If you don’t, you can mash traditionally and then push them through a fine mesh sieve. This will take forever. As you do, yell for your partner to buy a potato ricer because you’re not fucking doing this with a sieve again. Then, while the potatoes are still hot, stir in the butter. Let it melt fully. Then, add the heavy cream until you reach your desired consistency. You could use milk but we’re two sticks of butter in, so fuck it. Then, season with salt and pepper. Set aside. You can warm these up in a pot if the timing doesn’t work out, but usually the stew heats them back up sufficiently.
    5. Finishing the Stew: Once done, remove your stew from the oven and taste. It probably doesn’t taste very good yet. I like to salt this with soy sauce for some additional beef-like umami and color.
    6. Serve: Serve each person with potatoes at the bottom of their bowl and a ladle of stew on top, making sure to get plenty of the flavorful gravy.

    I hope you give this a try! If you do, leave a comment and let me know how it went! Please consider subscribing to receive more of my recipes directly in your inbox. It's free, and you'll only receive emails when I post another ad-free, seo-bullshit-story-free recipe.
    -Al

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