The crazy way I make mac and cheese

I just got back from the gym and I'm fighting the impulse to make and devour whole a box of mac and cheese. While the pasta part would actually be good for an after workout snack, the cheese will block some of the carb absorption, slows digestion and of course is calorically dense. So I have a special way of making mac and cheese so tasty, you'll only eat a reasonable portion of mac n cheese while feel totally fulfilled.

What you'll need

• A mini-box of baby spinach
• Your favorite mac 'n' cheese. I always use organic because you don't need pesticides in your snack, right?
• Three RyVita crisps-whichever you like. (if you don't like any, try Light Rye- it's the most neutral tasting, I think.)
• Optional: two heaping tablespoons of flax, chia, coconut mix.
• 6-8 cauliflower florets. Doesn't matter if fresh or frozen. Mine were frozen- I just microwaved them for 30 seconds to thaw.
• 2 egg whites
• Optional: a heaping tablespoon of nutritional yeast, to amp up the cheese flavor
• 2 teaspoons olive oil or 1 tsp olive oil and olive oil spray
• Salt and pepper to season. I also like paprika, onion flakes, and a little cayenne.

What to do

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat up some water and start making the mac. Don't let it finish, though- cut it short by 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and add the flavor packet. Don't bother adding butter or milk- we won't need it. But DO allow a little of the cooking water to stay in the pan in order to mix the cheese into liquid.

In the meantime, microwave the fresh spinach for about a minute and half. Remove from microwave and roughly chop. I used kitchen scissors and it was a snap.

Microwave the cauliflower, if needed. Put it in a food processor and process until it's starting to look like sticky rice.

Break up the crackers, add to a dry processor bowl with the chia/flax/coconut mix, if desired, and process until it looks like coarse bread crumbs. Just as you finish, add a teaspoon of olive oil.

Mix the spinach, cauliflower and mac and cheese. As you mix, add salt and pepper to taste, and some herbs/spices if you want. When it's pretty well mixed and seasoned, add the egg whites and incorporate them. Also add the nutritional yeast flakes now if you're adding them.

Put this into a baking dish- I used an 8x8" pan and that was about right.

Top with the RyVita/flax/olive oil crumble. Stick it in the pre-heated oven. Set the timer for 20 minutes.

How you know it's done: take a forkful/spoonful. the hunk should retain its shape and the crust will stay in place.

Enjoy your guilt-free mac and cheese. You're welcome!

Note: you no doubt have substitution ideas. Explore them.  Can you use kale instead of spinach? Heckles yeah! Don't bother microwaving it beforehand and shred it into little pieces.

You may also wonder if you want this totally vegan. Of course! There are excellent Mac and Cheeze products out there. The egg white is not necessary, it just adds a nice low-calorie custardiness since you're basically stretching a box of mac and cheese to perhaps twice the original bulk. A little dash of unsweetened soy milk, make the mix a tad thinner, the milk will get absorbed by the pasta and make the texture more pleasant. Experiment!