Lebanese Lentil Soup with a Twist

If you don't know, I am half Lebanese. My mom is full blooded Lebanese, so we cook a lot of middle eastern food. My Sittee (arabic for grandma) was the best cook I WILL ever know! One thing that I grew up eating and still enjoy is Dreda. It is a lentil and rice soup. My girls LOVE beans so naturally they love dreda. I recently started added vegetables to it to make it a more complete meal and more nutritious. Our favorite is dreda with carrots and kale.
Recipe-
Sautee 1/2 sweet yellow onion and 2-3 carrots chopped small in olive oil until onions are soft. add 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup of lentils (you can use any kind). Season with salt, red pepper, garlic powder, and cinnamon. Add a quart of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Let cook until lentils are tender. Once lentils are tender add 1/2 cup of rice. Add 1-2 cups of water at this time to make sure you have enough liquid to cook the rice and it still be somewhat soupy. Cover and cook on low-medium. I let my rice cook slowly so I dont cook out all the liquid. Add chopped kale at the end. Taste and re-season if needed with same spices.