By Isabelle Banin

Smoothies are a delicious way to cool down on sweltering summer days. The beauty of these four recipes is that they are packed with nutritious fruit and can be endlessly adapted.

Lori Bumbaco, RD, a NorthShore Dietitian, says smoothies are also especially beneficial if you struggle to consume the recommended 1.5-2 cups of fruit daily.

For the smoothies below:

Directions: Blend together all liquids and fresh fruits first. Hard ingredients like nuts and ice should be blended at the end. Feel free to add more milk or yogurt after blending the hard ingredients to adjust the consistency.

If you prefer a thicker consistency, try substituting some of the fresh fruit for frozen. Depending on how much frozen fruit you use, you won’t have to use as much (or any) ice.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie
• 1 cup strawberries
• 1 banana
• ½ cup of nonfat, 1 percent low-fat milk or almond milk
• ½ cup of nonfat plain Greek or strawberry yogurt

Apple Blueberry Smoothie
• 1 cup apple, peeled, chopped
• 1 cup of nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt
• ½ cup of nonfat, 1 percent low-fat milk or almond milk
• ½ cup of blueberries
• 4-5 ice cubes
• 1 tsp of honey

Peach Pie Smoothie
• 1 cup of unsweetened frozen peaches
• 1 tbsp. of honey
• ¼ tsp. of vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. of ground cinnamon
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Pinch of ground ginger
• ½ cup nonfat, 1 percent low-fat milk or almond milk
• ½ cup nonfat Greek plain yogurt

Chocolate Banana Smoothie
• ½ cup of oats, quick or old-fashioned
• 2 tbsp. of chia seeds
• 2 frozen bananas
• 1 cup of nonfat, 1 percent low-fat milk or almond milk
• ½ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp. almond butter
• 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp. honey, optional