This recipe was inspired from this page. I have not eaten meat intentionally since March 13, 2015 (the date of this posting is 6/20/2019). However I realized recently that there are animal byproducts in places I did not expect such as cheese. Many cheeses list "enzymes" on the label which can either mean plant-based enzymes or animal rennet. When making this recipe, I used cheeses that specifically listed plant-based ingredients to keep the recipe strictly vegetarian. I was able to find the brand Tillamook for the cheddar cheese which was available at Safeway and Sartori for the parmesan which I found at Whole Foods. Becoming vegetarian has taught me a lot about how the foods we eat are made and what goes into them and I've learned two important things:

1. You have to pay close attention to labels if trying to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet.
2. You have to have reasonable expecations when eating at restaurants because most places don't have separate grills so there will be a limited amount of meat byproducts in your food. Also, most people eat meat and when someone makes a dish many times the same way, sometimes auto pilot kicks in so it's always good to check your food to make sure there's no meat in it.

That said, I ate cheese for several years thinking it was vegetarian. I'm also not vegan so I'm ok with enjoying cheese. For this recipe, however, I wanted to adhere to a strict vegetarian recipe and the original link I found did not mention that cheeses are not strictly vegetarian unless you ensure there are no animal products in them.

Ingredients

• 6-8 cups russet potatoes peeled and chopped (3-4 large potatoes)
• 1 yellow onion peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• 1/2 cup sour cream or cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Scallions (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Dice the onion and cut the celery into small pieces
   
   Diced celery and onion
2. Heat a large pot on the stove over medium heat add the butter & olive oil then add the onions & celery. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
3. Peel and dice the potatoes. Add the potatoes and minced garlic to the pot and continue to sauté all of the ingredients for about 5 minutes.
   
   Dicing the peeled potatoes
4. Add the vegetable stock and increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil, stirring quite often. This will release the starch in the potatoes and help thicken the soup. Depending on the size of the dice of the potatoes it will take 14-18 minutes. Cook the potatoes until they are fork tender. The stew will be quite thick.
5. Remove from heat and stir in both cheeses and the sour cream.
   
   Shredding cheddar block and dicing scallions for garnish

Finished product: