Thanksgiving recipes and reflections from “A Taste of Wellness Magazine”

A holiday meal table setting with pumpkins with “A Taste of Wellness” magazine November 2025 | Volume 3 | Issue 10 cover. — *Holiday-ready wellness recipes and reflections featured in the latest “A Taste of Wellness” magazine.*

Food often takes center stage during the holidays, becoming a meaningful way to connect and share nourishing meals with the ones we love. These culturally rooted celebrations mark a time of transition— a season when one chapter closes and another begins.

The November edition of Nutrition and Wellness Services’ “A Taste of Wellness” not only features nutritious holiday-ready recipes, but also offers a well-earned farewell to our supervising health education specialist, Leticia Allen, who has dedicated 23 years to the Department of Public Health – Nutrition and Wellness Services. As she embarks on her retirement, she leaves us with a parting gift sure to ignite your holiday season: her signature spicy red tomatillo salsa recipe.

Let the holidays be a time of joy and family togetherness. We hope that the articles, tips and messages in this issue will nourish your mind, body and soul to keep you healthy and stress-free as the holidays approach.

Letti’s red tomatillo salsa recipe:

Ingredients:

6 – 9 dried arbol chilies, cleaned with a damp cloth
15 tomatillos, husks removed and washed
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup of water
½ onion, finely chopped (optional)
3 teaspoons of cilantro, finely chopped (optional)
Juice of 1 lime (optional)

Instructions:

In a dry skillet over medium heat, place the arbol chilies for about 4 minutes turning them often to avoid burning. Remove them from the skillet and set aside.
In the same skillet, add the tomatillos and toast them for about 12 – 15 minutes until all are lightly charred, turning often to get all sides.
Transfer the chiles, tomatillos, garlic, salt and water to a blender. Process the ingredients until smooth.

To serve as a salsa dip, add the onions, cilantro and lime juice and mix well. Enjoy it with food or tortilla chips.

To view the November magazine, please visit bit.ly/November2025ATOW.

To view an accessible version of the magazine, please visit dph.sbcounty.gov/atow-november-2025/.

Additional County Update News – November 20, 2025