Pomegranate soup

I am a very sloppy cook and I look for shortcuts. I totally reworked this soup.I browned the ground beef with the onion. I added the 1/4 tsp cinnamon and pepper and cut down on the salt, because I try to cook "lower in sodium". I then added 6 cups water, not 8, 1/2 cup raw rice, a 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, some fresh parsley -less than a full cup, and omitted the green onions because I did not have any-( but you could add more regular onion if you like too). I added 1 cup pomegranate juice and 1/3 cup sugar, and cooked everything together until the rice and spinach were both fully cooked. ( Stir occasionally so rice does not stick to the bottom of pot and burn).Then I added the tablespoon of dried mint and another 1/4 tsp each cinnamon and pepper. It's a good quick and easy healthy soup- but it does not even hint of the lovely pink color that the author mentions! ( Years ago I remember reading that if you don't have pomegranate juice, cranberry juice might make an OK substitute. I didn't try it though.) It is a very exotic tasting soup, and we did like it a lot. I've made it now several times.