Curried Spaghetti-Squash-And-Chickpea Toasts

As you may or may not know, I get a by monthly delivery of local, organic produce from Front Porch Pickings.  I was also honored to be picked to write recipes for their news letter on those same weeks.  I gave them the spaghetti squash frittata recipe I love, but also looked around for some more unusual applications for the spaghetti squash.  I happen to really like Indian spices and I think they go  well with the sweetness of the squash, but this recipe I hadn't tried yet. I liked it but I was sad that the squashes natural delicious flavor was smothered by the heavy spices.  I think it would make a lovely vegetarian meal and for a pretty healthy meal it was really tasty.  I think that the mixture would be nice over rice. We had this with salad, rice and I made 2 steaks as my husband, father and son prefer having some meat, but as there were only two we all had nice small portions and filled up on the toasts and the salad (with some very tasty peppers and tomatoes also from my FFP basket) mostly. Oh and I roasted the squash seeds and used them as the garnish:)

Curried Spaghetti-Squash-And-Chickpea Toasts

1    small spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds),halved and seeded
1/4 c  plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1    onion,chopped
1    carrot,finely chopped
1 T  ground coriander
1 1/2 t  ground cumin
1/2 t  crushed red pepper
1/2 t  finely grated orange zest
1 1/2 t  madras curry paste or curry powder
1    15-ounce can chickpeas drained
1/2 c  water
1/2 c  chopped cilantro
Grilled peasant bread and toasted pumpkin seeds,for serving
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Place the halved spaghetti squash cut
side up on a baking sheet and brush it with 2 tablespoons of the olive
oil. Season with salt and black pepper. Roast the spaghetti squash for
about 45 minutes, until the flesh is tender and lightly browned in
spots. Let cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of olive
oil. Add the chopped onion and carrot and cook over moderate heat,
stirring, until they are just softened, about 5 minutes. Add the
coriander, cumin, crushed red pepper, grated orange zest and curry
paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the
drained chickpeas and the water and simmer until the vegetables are
very tender and the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
3. Using a fork, rake the squash into strands; you should have about 2
1/2 cups of squash. Add the chopped cilantro and squash to the curry
and season with salt. Serve the curried squash over grilled peasant
bread, garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Make Ahead The curried squash can be refrigerated overnight. Add the
chopped cilantro just before serving.