Summertime can be the best time to try a green smoothie. With the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables available, a green smoothie can be inexpensive to make and it’s very nutritious to eat.

Try to buy organic produce when possible. If you have a local farmer’s market, ask about how the food was grown; in grocery stores, look for the “certified organic” label.

It’s great to start with frozen fruit, because then you won’t have to dilute the mixture with added ice. Some health food stores now sell bags of frozen, organic fruit, and your local supermarket will have bags of frozen fruit (although they probably won’t be organic). If you buy fresh fruit, clean it well, cut into slices, and freeze in zip-closed bags until needed.

Now pull that blender down from the cabinet, dust it off, and get started.

Green Smoothie

One large handful of clean baby spinach leaves.

½ cup frozen peaches

½ cup other frozen fruit: Mangoes, pineapple, and berries work well

1 large peeled banana

Filtered water

Put spinach and fruits in blender. Add enough pure water to cover. Blend until smooth. Add ice if desired and blend again.

If you’ve been adding flaxseed oil, chia seeds, nutritional yeast, fish oil, or other supplements to your diet, you can try adding them to the smoothie.

Sip throughout the morning or drink half for breakfast and refrigerate the other half for a mid-afternoon snack.

Source: Linda Wagner with contributions by AltMeds.com editorial staff.