Q. I was hoping you could share a breakfast smoothie recipe with me. In the summer, even the mornings are hot where I live. I thought a breakfast smoothie would be just the ticket!

A. Kudos for thinking outside the box (or the blender, as it were). There's no reason why a smoothie can't suffice for breakfast, especially when it features a few fruit servings, a dairy serving and a whole-grain serving — like this week's recipe.

This smoothie was inspired by what I learned writing my latest book, "Food Synergy," which is about the latest research on how foods can work together to offer greater nutritional value or disease-fighting properties.

For example, several ingredients in this smoothie, including soy protein, may help reduce the effects of low density lipoprotein ("bad" cholesterol), and pump up the synergy between vitamin C and beta-carotene. Several ingredients, including soy isoflavones and carotenoid-rich foods, may help fight plaque buildup in arteries. Several ingredients, including the assortment of carotenoids in cantaloupe and mango working together, may help prevent damage from free radicals. And some ingredients in this smoothie, including fiber and soy protein, may help improve blood sugar control and keep insulin levels steady.

This smoothie starts your day off with an impressive supply of key nutrients, not the least of which is vitamin C (73 mg), folate (262 mcg), beta-carotene (1595 mcg) and calcium (212 mg). The carbohydrate in this recipe comes from the three types of fruit plus the carbohydrate from the yogurt, soymilk and granola topping.

You can reduce the carbohydrate in this dish by eliminating the granola topping. This would change the nutritional analysis to 248 calories, 6 g protein, 56 g carbohydrate, 1.3 g fat, 6 g fiber and 80 mg sodium.

MELON MANGO BREAKFAST SMOOTHIE