Spiced lamb & rice soup

Serves 4 / Prep 10 minutes / Cook 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 brown onion, finely chopped

4 celery sticks, cut into

1 cm pieces

2 carrots, cut into 1 cm pieces

3 teaspoons harissa Middle Eastern spice blend (see tip)

200 g lean lamb mince

2 teaspoons chicken stock powder

1/3 cup (65 g) basmati rice

Shredded fresh mint, to serve

Method:

Lightly spray a large saucepan with oil and heat over medium heat. Cook onion, celery and carrot, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion has softened. Add spice blend and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add mince and cook, breaking up lumps, for 3 minutes or until browned.

Stir in stock powder, rice and 1 litre (4 cups) water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until riceis tender. Serve topped with mint.

TO REFRIGERATE: Store leftovers in a reusable container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat soup in a saucepan on the stovetop or microwavesingle portions until hot, adding a little extra water if too thick.

Instead of using this mixture to bake muffins, it can also be cooked in a 12 cm x 22 cm lined loaf tin at 180°C for about 40 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cut into 12 pieces to serve.