The lighttpd from TC 1.X works for TC 2.X. I haven't gotten around to trying the SSL features yet.
I looked into PHP for lighttpd. In order for lighttpd to use PHP it needs to be configured with cgi/fastcgi and not with the apache module. I don't see this as a problem to build, I would just have to build a different version of the PHP extension that isn't dependent on Apache and has cgi/fastcgi enabled.
I like the idea of lighttpd over apache due to the size difference, speed, and ease of use. I just submitted an update extension for php5 for TC 2.X. I'll create a new extension tomorrow called php5-cgi to be used with lighttpd. Also it looks like the lighttpd can be carried over to TC 2.X.