"healthy" greek yogurt mac & cheese

my husband and i just finished a 24-day cleanse.  we ate very cleanly, took a ton of supplements, worked out 5-6 days a week, and ended up losing a combined 20 pounds!!!  we don't want this to be one of those fad diets, so we do plan to continue eating as clean as we can, for as long as we can. yay!!

that being said, i have missed cheese, pasta, and the two of those things united into creamy, gooey, heaven in my mouth.  with our first "official" cheat day landing on none other than super bowl sunday, i was hell-bent on making mac & cheese - but i didn't want to feel guilty after working so hard all month. i opted for a "healthy" mac with greek yogurt! it was simple, healthy, and (most importantly) cheesy!!

original recipes: once again, i gathered some inspiration from a couple of different pins on pinterest: mac and cheese lite from fitness magazine (repinned here), and a 3-ingredient skinny mac n' cheese (repinned here).  i really liked the simplicity of the latter recipe, but flavor components of the former.  taking ideas from each, i created my own recipe.  :)

i made the following changes/additions: 

• if you know me, you are going to be shocked to hear this, but we used gluten-free, wheat-free noodles!!  they were the organic brown rice fusili noodles from good 'ol trader joe's.  they were actually pretty good!!  
• i used WAY more cheese than either recipe called for.  maybe doubled, and then some (mostly due to the healthfulness of the noodles and the greek yogurt).
• i added a little bit of low-sodium chicken broth to the cooked noodles before mixing in any of the other ingredients - this helped with consistency AND flavor.
• for my primary cheese, i used cabot's sharp light cheddar cheese.  i love cabot reduced-fat cheese, because it is just as melty and flavorful as any other kind of full-fat cheese (and may i remind you that it is 50% less fat than the regular variety).
  
• i used a second cheese because it is delicious, one of our favorites, and so flavorful that you don't need very much of it: trader joe's parm cheese with black pepper  
  

what i'll change next time:

• i can't believe i'm saying this, but i would use less cheese.  the same kinds of cheese, just a little less of it (but still more than what is called for in either of my inspiration recipes)
• i would be willing to try this with regular pasta or even whole-wheat pasta, but i actually did not mind the brown rice pasta as a healthy alternative.  i would even (gasp) go so far as to recommend it!

final recipe!! (feeds 4 health-conscious adults, or 2 adults who lack portion control and have a hearty appetite)

ingredients

8 oz of noodles (for the health factor, use either whole-wheat or brown rice noodles)

1/2 cup of 0% fat greek yogurt (i swear by fage)

8 oz brick (about 2 cups) of cabot reduced-fat cheddar or sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 to 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup sodium-free chicken broth

dashes of the following (more or less according to what you like): salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, ground mustard

directions

cook the noodles according to the package directions, until they are al dente. meanwhile, grate the cheese.  here's a tip: if using a box grater (one you hold in one hand while sliding the cheese up and down it with the other hand), spray a little cooking spray on it. it helps with grating AND cleanup. most importantly, it doesn't affect the flavor or consistency of the cheese.

set your oven to broil, turn off the burner, drain the noodles, and immediately return the noodles to the warm pot you cooked them in. pour the chicken broth into the pot with the noodles and stir.  add the cheese by handfuls, and the greek yogurt by spoonfuls, little by little as such: handful of cheese > stir > spoonful of greek yogurt > stir > handful of cheese > stir (and so on and so on), being sure to reserve about half of the parmesan cheese for later.

once your concoction is creamy and making that delicious sound of gooey yumminess, pour it into a casserole dish (i used a strange one with no known measurements, but a small 9X9 or something like that will be fine).  sprinkle the remaining parmesan cheese evenly over the top of the dish.  

put the casserole dish into the oven, set on broil, for 5 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to crisp up and brown just slightly. be careful not to burn it!!

wait a minute or 2 (just to avoid third-degree tongue burns), serve it up, and enjoy - with only a tiny bit of guilt!!

now, would i prefer the non-healthy variety of mac & cheese?  ABSOLUTELY. but this is an AWESOME healthy alternative to the butter, milk, flour, heavy cream, evaporated milk versions.  my myfitnesspal app says that this dish is 387 calories per serving (with 4 total servings).  these are calories that i don't mind splurging on.  :)