I’m as Yankee and as whit as it comes, and red beans and rice has never befuddled me! How bizarre.
Gravelax or tzatziki.
Believe me, I’ve thrown those out before :).
My default dish is spicy pimento cheese. I always thought I hated pimento cheese until I had someone make it right, in which case it’s revelatory. Here’s my basic recipe:
-Put a clove or two of garlic in the food processor and whirl.
-Add some cumin and some cayenne.
-Add some roughly-chopped sharp cheddar (like 8 oz or so) and whirl.
-Add about 2 oz cream cheese and a big ole spoonful mayo and whirl.
-Add a teeny jar of pimentos and whirl quickly, so there are still some chunks of pimentos.
It’s especially good just slightly warmed and served on toasted baguette slices, but it’s good any way you wanna eat it.
Jambalaya. Easy to keep warm and it always disappears.
Yeah, deviled eggs usually are greeted with great enthusiasm. I like to make them with medium eggs, rather than the larger sizes, because the smaller eggs are easier and neater to deal with.
When short on time, a friend once took a platter of Twinkles and HoHo’s. Guilty pleasure I guess, the platter was emptied rather quickly…
I was invited to a last minute b-b-q and just Googled the ingredients I had in my fridge and came up these one bite wonders - cubed watermelon, mint leaf, smidgen of goat cheese and a drizzle of good olive oil over all. Build the cubes in that order and secure with a toothpick. I’ve brought this to many parties and while people are generally skeptical at first, the plate is always polished off.
Not really for pot lucks, but for parties I go with “North Stars.” This is a Pampered Chef recipe and you can Google and find the exact recipe. They were called “Stars” because they originally were shilling a star shaped baking tube to make star shaped loafs of bread. I just buy a baguette. I guess North Ovals or whatever don’t sound as good.
Basically it is a combo of Mayo, Grated Swiss Cheese, Sour Cream, and a packet of Italian Dressing mix. Combine it and spread on thin bread slices. Then you add chopped bell peppers and bake. Surprisingly tasty (and easy).
The fun thing about them is you can vary the colors of the peppers depending on the occasion. We are Packers fans, so if we go to a game party we use green and yellow peppers on top. For Halloween a drop or two of black food coloring in the cheese mixture and orange peppers on top. IU parties… red peppers on the white topping, etc.
In the “Won’t someone think of the children?” vein, if I know that there will be kids there, I’ll stop and get fried chicken from anywhere that sells it. Most potlucks tend to be heavy on casseroles and IME, kids would rather have something familiar like chicken. If Mrs. Glinley is cooking, she’s most likely to take her famous chicken enchiladas.
How are you going to keep the adults away from it?
Between fried chicken and casserole, I know what I’m grabbing first.
The yummy cream cheese, green olive, mayo, pecan dip, with stone wheat crax.
Or cheesecake of some fun flavor.
Oh, I love a good cheddar/port wine based cheeseball [add a dab of horseradish for a small bit of burn!] and stoned wheat crackers of different types.
We do different stuff for New Years Eve parties - always a small number of people, no more than 8 total [us 3 and 5 guests] where we do fondues - traditional swiss fondue or Digby’s Cheesy Spooand a chicken broth hot pot and a chocolate one for dessert, and have a fruit and cheese plate is a common party for us. We just put everything out on the table at once, give everybody the fondue forks and a plate and dig in. The bread cubes we try to have are a good dense sourdough and a good rye, to support the rather intense cheese. For with the chocoalte, I like a nice basic pound cake and an angel food cake along with strawberries.
I prefer fried chicken too, that’s another reason that i bring it. At most the potlucks that I’ve been to, the kids seem to find their way to the front of the line.
Are the white folks intrigued by it? 
My go-to always draws oohs as well as aahs, disappears quickly, and is deceptively easy to make: a berry trifle. I trot it out sparingly, lest the mystique lessen.
mmm
My go-to’s are southwest chicken casserole or a mixed fresh fruit salad.
I’m fussy about my fruit so only good stuff- none of that bland, flavorless honeydew.
Often, if I’m in the middle of my shift work and have no time, I volunteer for plates and plasticware.
I generally like stew-like dishes, because they’re usually fairly inexpensive to make and easy to make in large quantities for a crowd. So, typically, I go for something like Hungarian pörkölt (a beef, onion, and paprika stew), or a Cajun dish of some sort (chicken piquant goes over well), or possibly Mexican (mole amarillo or a braised pork dish). I’ll usually bring the accompanying starch along, as well.
My friends will request one of two dishes, both of which are not really cooking, as they only really require assembly. 
Layered “Mexican” dip:
Get a large lasagna pan, preferably glass so the colors show, and spread layers as follows:
A couple of cans of vegetarian refried beans (this is often the only vegetarian dish, so I try to make sure I don’t get the wrong kind.)
A small can of sliced black olives (reserve a few to sprinkle on top)
Two Avocados Number guacamole packs.
One bag of frozen mixed veggies the best is the beans+corn+red peppers+onions and then I also add a few handfuls of peas. (reserve a handful to sprinkle on top)
A couple of jars of mild chunky salsa, kicked up with two packets of TruLime.
A thick top layer of mild sour cream.
Sprinkle reserved veggies and olives about for color.
Serve with the thick cup-shaped tortilla chips.
-or-
Baked brie
One package of frozen puff pastry
One whole brie. Get the cheap one, it really won’t make a difference.
One jar of seedless black raspberry preserves. This is key. Not raspberry, not blackberry, Black Raspberry and definitely seedless.
Cut a layer of pastry round just about 1/8 inch larger than the brie. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Put brie on top and then cut a strip to go around the edge. Pinch lightly in place.
Spread preserves thickly on top.
Cut another round of pastry to place on top. If you’re feeling creative, carve something appropos to the celebration into the top.
Bake at 350F until nicely browned. If you’ve carved the top, brush the top with lightly with egg to bring out the pattern and provide a shiny finish.
Both of these dishes are quick to put together and will make you look like a genius.
If it’s Halloween, you can make it in the shape of a cheeseskull.
People, people…you aren’t supposed to use ketchup! The recipe calls for Chili sauce. No wonder someone mentioned having to throw them away! Or better yet, go to GFS (Gordon Food Service) and get a big can of their sauce…I think it is the Sweet and Savory. Much easier to mix, and if you buy a bag of their frozen meatballs it is practically painless!
My go-to dip is one I got from kittenblue, in fact. It involves Velveeta, horseradish, a splash of bourbon and a little worchestershire sauce. You can search for it under “cheesy crack.”