To make the béchamel, place the cashews and about a cup of water into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Depending on how you are using the béchamel, you may need to add more or less water. You can always thin it down later so it’s best to add less to start with.

Once the mixture is nice and smooth pour it into a jar or bowl and then add the nutmeg and nutritional yeast and then taste for seasoning, adding salt as desired. The reason these ingredients are added last is that if they were added directly to the blender they would not only change the color of the béchamel, they would also change the overall flavor — this way they add pops of flavor and color. For the nutmeg, start with half the amount and then go from there. Also note that if desired, the nutmeg can, of course, be left out altogether.