Orange Julius Smoothie

I re-created the mall classic Orange Julius in raw, vegan, processed sugar-free form.  It's my new favorite and it keeps well (actually gets better!) sitting in the fridge so I make a huge batch. It only lasts us about 2 days though.

2 cups of fresh squeezed orange juice

2 oz irish moss (cleaned well, soaked, rinsed, and drained)

1/4 cup of macademia nuts 

2 oranges, peeled

1/2 banana

6 TBSP vanilla water*

2 TBSP agave nectar (to taste) -optional

Blend the irish moss with 1 cup of OJ until smooth and creamy. Then add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Vanilla water is 3 fresh (soft) whole vanilla beans blended with 1 cup of water.  I make this up and it lasts me at least a month in the fridge.  You could use vanilla extract or scrape a vanilla bean, but you'd need to experiment with the amounts. I like my Orange Julius very vanilla and I love seeing the little vanilla speckles in it.

I enjoy mine over ice with a straw for an authentic "hanging at the mall when I was 16" experience.