New Year Chicken & Rice

This dish looked so celebratory, it seems like it would be appropriate for whichever New Year you celebrate.  I  really just wanted to experiment with some new things.   I was going for a sweet and spicy Mediterranean/Spanish feel.  Now that I have a better idea how long things take to cook, I might be able to combine some of the things I cooked separately.

I used my Ethiopian chick peas (you could use canned), brown rice (undercooked), fried onions, carrots, green and red peppers, cumin, smoked paprika, cinnamon... I think it would also be good with raisins and peas.  My husband bought chicken already in those little strips.  I rinsed, drained, and covered the chicken with honey (remember my 1.5 kilograms of honey?) and some pepper and then lightly fried them in oil.

I topped it with pistachios.  I actually got that idea because I needed a job for my son, who badly wants to help and watch everything I do.  I had just enough to top one dish.  Then I drizzled a tiny stream of honey over the chicken and rice.  I covered the whole dish with foil and put everything in the oven to finish cooking.  Some veggie of chicken broth would have been a nice addition, as would even a single fresh herb.  The smaller pan went in the freezer for a future dinner.

Update: The smaller pan was successfully rewarmed.  It love eating food after I forget the work that went into it.  I really don't get more pleasure from the fruits of my labor.  The chicken was juicy and the vegetables were just as tasty after their 2.5 week suspended animation.