Kabocha squash, carrots, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, spray w olive oil very lightly, season some w paprika, some w nothing, maybe boil some little spuds and then roast them w paprika and olive oil. You can cook the little things for less time than the big things. Put it all in a lidded casserole dish and bring tongs. People like it!

Guessing Hawaiian food is out...

Hope he’s doing okay.

If I were going to a potluck I’d bring these Cuban sliders. They look pretty easy.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cuban-sliders/

former bf. already had a bad back. he’s gonna need surgery, but he’s getting stroked around. putting him through the whole- pt 1st, this test, that test. “ it’s a process” me- yeah, pick a date, get a pre-op,, and go. he has black holes on his mri where a couple disks shd b. trying to convince him to stand up and say no, fix this now.
i’m more of a momma now. lol.

Best of luck to you both. Sounds like you’re gonna need it.

The Cubans would prolly need to stay warm or at least room temp. If that’s not an option I have a couple other suggestions. I have brought all these to potlucks before.

Greek salad - torn Romaine, chopped roasted red peppers from a jar, red onion slices, halved cherry tomatoes, black olives, and crumbled feta cheese. Bring a bottle of Greek vinaigrette and pour and mix right before serving.

Macaroni and cheese

Mini meatballs

Baked beans

Pie, either homemade or from a bakery

Mini cupcakes

Layered Lemon dessert - tastes better if made the day before. Not hard to make. My sons loved it.
https://happyhooligans.ca/luscious-lemon-delight-an-easy-to-make-layered-dessert/

Good luck!

Makes a ton, and no beans. You can't really tell it's pumpkin either. Gets a double thumbs up from everyone I've served it to. Can be made in a slow cooker although the recipe is for Instant Pot. Or just make chili without beans and double the meat. DM me for the recipe.

I'm currently making a big batch for a potluck tomorrow.

As for beans: for a large party once I prepared 3 pots of chili - a fairly mild one that was just meat, a medium spicy just meat one, and a spicy vegan bean one - and encouraged people to mix and match to taste (I also had additional hot sauces, grated cheese, etc that people could add)

Crudites with various dips? Plates of sandwich makings?

I know the problem - one of the people coming tomorrow doesn't eat anything beginning with "a". So anything with artichokes, avocados, arugula, aubergines, anchovies are right out.