We love making smoothies during the summer when there is so much wonderful fruit for blending. Smoothies are so easy to make. The basic recipe calls for 1 cup liquid such as milk, soymilk, yogurt, juice, ice-cream, or sherbet and about 1 ½ - 2 cups of fresh (or frozen) fruit of your choosing.

If you are worried about smoothies piling on the pounds, try these ideas.

1. When a recipe call for yogurt, milk or ice cream, use fat-free and no-sugar added versions. You can cut the calories in ½ by using fat-free, artificially sweetened vanilla yogurt instead of the low-fat kind.

2. Try replacing regular milk with unsweetened almond or hazelnut “milk”.

3. Use skim milk, and heighten the flavor with ice cubes made from juice or tea. This will thicken up your drink as well.

4. If you are using frozen fruit, choose unsweetened versions. You can add your own sweeteners, and probably not use as much as packaging companies do.

5. Mix in wheat germ or ground flaxseeds to boost nutrition and fiber. You won’t even taste it…we promise!

Try this batido the Cuban version of a smoothie.

Blueberry-Banana Batido

1 ripe banana, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
4 ice cubes
1 cup buttermilk

Combine banana, blueberries, sugar, ice cubes, and buttermilk in a blender and blend until smooth.