For a supper wrap with substance, good old chilli con carne does the trick nicely. Get it started and leave it bubbling on the stove until thick and delicious and then spoon into a tortilla with the necessary accompaniments, fold up and eat. And it holds up just fine in the freezer or cooked in advance when there’s a particularly frantic week lying ahead.

Apparently the San Antonio streets were once filled with 'brightly dressed chilli queens', women who appeared as the sun was dipping to sell bowls of chilli to passersby. The savoury smells of slow-cooking mince, tomatoes and chillies wafting up from their 'cauldrons' made it a sure sell – I couldn't see myself saying no to a chilli queen offering a bowl of family-recipe chilli after a long, hard day. So put on some primary colours, crank up the mariachi music and cook this for yourself or someone you love.

Chilli Con Carne
Serves 4

Method
1 tbsp sunflower oil
500g beef mince
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2tbsp tomato paste
400g tin tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp dried chilli
1 cup beef stock
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp brown sugar
1tsp sea salt flakes
400g tin red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

To Serve:
Tortillas, cooked according to packet instructions

And some accompaniment ideas:
Grated cheddar, shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced yellow (or red) peppers, brown basmati rice, chilli sauce, sour cream (optional)

Method
Heat the oil in a medium pot over a medium-high heat, add the mince and cook until nicely browned. Remove and set aside, add the onion to the pot and sauté until translucent. Turn up the heat, add the garlic and red pepper and sauté briefly until the pepper is glossy. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until it is is thickened and has turned a brick-red colour. Then add the mince and all the remaining ingredients except for the salt and kidney beans. Simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Once the mince has thickened and all the liquid has been absorbed, season, fold through the kidney beans and fill the tortilla wraps.