Optical vortex Laguerre-Gaussian (LG0l) modes have wide-ranging applications due to their annular spatial form and orbital angular momentum. Their direct generation from a laser is attractive, due to the pure and high-power modes possible; however, previous demonstrations have had limited ranges of applicability. Here, we propose and implement direct LG0l vortex mode generation with an anti-resonant ring (ARR) coupled laser cavity geometry, where the gain medium inside the ARR is shared between two laser cavities. This generation uses standard wavelength-insensitive optical components, is suitable for high peak and average power levels, and could be applied to any bulk gain medium in pulsed or continuous wave regimes. This work demonstrates the technique with a diode end-pumped Nd:YVO4 gain medium. From 24 W of pump power, 8.9 W LG01 and 4.3 W LG02 modes were generated, all with high mode purity and pure handedness. The LG01 mode handedness was controlled with a new technique.