Spicy Mango Pizza with Black Beans and Zucchini

Before we get to the recipe for Spicy Mango Pizza with Black Beans and Zucchini, I have something really important to share with you. Are you ready?

I’m writing this post while sitting at a desk.

And fine, maybe that doesn’t sound all that important to you, but it is to me. Because for the year and a half that I’ve been blogging, I’ve been writing most of my posts while sitting on the couch. And, more often than not, I’m half-watching episodes of Real Housewives or Mob Wives while writing. (“Oh,” you’re saying to yourself, “that explains a lot.”)

But I’ve decided I need to be more professional with my blog. I need to have set hours for it. I need to have a place for it. I need to treat it like a business, not as a hobby. And not because I’m raking in big bucks as a blogger (ha!), but because when I treat it as a hobby, it has a way of encroaching on my free time. If I treat it like a business, my hope is that I’ll be able to set better boundaries with myself. (Although I neglected to mention I’m sitting at my desk writing this on a Saturday afternoon—well, one step at a time, right?)

A Taste-Testing Tale

Another necessary step in being more professional about food blogging is having a taste-tester. Luckily, I’ve had mine since I started my blog: my husband. If a recipe just doesn’t cut it, he lets me know—often before I even attempt to make it. After I made this Spicy Mango Pizza, I remarked to him that I really liked it and his response was, “Yeah, it was awesome! I’m shocked.”

“You’re shocked? Gee, thanks.”

He explained that he wasn’t sure the black beans would work on pizza before he tried it. And honestly, I had the same thought, which is why I only used 1/4 cup. That really is the perfect amount—the mango is the star here and adding any additional black beans would take away from that. As they are, the ingredients work together perfectly—sweet, spicy, and fresh, this pizza is a nice change of pace from the usual tomato-sauce-and-mozzarella standard.

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