I usually have two goals with my potluck contributions: it should be easy to eat, and it should be something healthy.  I plan food that is easy to eat because many summer potlucks are held outside, or somewhere where you have to eat on your lap, sitting on the ground, or standing up.  Instead of a fruit salad, I will make fruit kabobs or open-faced sandwiches that can be picked up and consumed without utensils.  Also, unless I am bringing a dessert, I try to opt for a dish on the healthier side to balance all the inevitable potluck bags of chips and processed foods.  Salads: caprese salad (to serve on a skewer use mini balls of fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, and cherry tomatoes), quinoa salad, pasta salad, Greek salad.  Other options are a platter of roasted vegetables, spring rolls, or pot stickers.

The dishes I like to bring to potlucks are roasted vegetables, uncommon dips (sundried-tomato, white bean, or edamame, etc.) with baked pita chips, or salads with great seasonal ingredients, like the Greek cherry tomato salad we wrote about in the summer pantry staples post, or a couscous salad with Moroccan flavors. For the roasted veggies, I usually roast a variety cut into bite size pieces (see our post on roasting veggies), and serve them on a big platter grouped by veggie. My favorites are zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, and Brussels sprouts.  If you want to skip a step in the preparation, you can buy already cut-up vegetables at the salad bar or produce section of your grocery store.