Cuban Village Garlic-Mojo Sweet Potato Traybake

About This Recipe

Mojo criollo - a punchy sauce of garlic, sour orange and olive oil - is Cuba's answer to a marinade, usually spooned over roast pork or yuca. This traybake borrows that flavor and pours it over sweet potatoes and onions before roasting, so the vegetables caramelize while soaking up all that garlic and citrus. The important move is making the mojo hot: garlic is briefly fried in oil until just golden and fragrant, then citrus juice is added off heat, which tempers the raw garlic bite while keeping the sauce bright. Half goes on before roasting to season the vegetables as they cook, and half is reserved to spoon on fresh at the table, so you get both a deep roasted garlic flavor and a sharp citrus finish. It's rustic, single-tray cooking - a Cuban countryside approach to vegetables rather than a formal dish, meant to sit next to roast meat or black beans and rice.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 lbsweet potatoes (boniato or regular)(peeled, cut into wedges)
• 1 largered onion(cut into wedges)
• 0.5 cupolive oil(divided)
• 8 clovesgarlic(minced, divided)
• 0.5 cupsour orange juice or lime-orange blend
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 1.5 tspfine sea salt
• 0.25 cupcilantro or parsley(chopped)

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven and toss the vegetables

   Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Toss sweet potato wedges and onion with 3 tbsp olive oil, cumin, oregano and 1 tsp salt on a sheet pan.

2. 2

   Roast

   Roast 30-35 minutes, flipping halfway, until the sweet potatoes are deeply browned at the edges and tender when pierced.

3. 3

   Fry the mojo garlic

   While the vegetables roast, heat the remaining olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add all the garlic and cook 60-90 seconds until just golden - do not let it brown or it turns bitter.

4. 4

   Finish the mojo off heat

   Remove the garlic oil from heat and carefully stir in the citrus juice and remaining salt; it will bubble and smell sharp - that's correct.

5. 5

   Sauce and serve

   Pour half the warm mojo over the roasted vegetables while they're hot and toss. Finish with cilantro and serve the remaining mojo on the side.

Variations

• •

  Use yuca (cassava) instead of sweet potato for a more traditional mojo pairing, boiling it first until tender before roasting to crisp the edges.

• •

  Add a sliced fresh chile to the mojo oil with the garlic for a spicier version.

• •

  Roast plantain chunks alongside the sweet potato for extra sweetness.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes to re-crisp the edges; the mojo can be stored separately and spooned on after reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions