The potluck problem: Here's some criteria to apply

Where I live, there are three potluck seasons. There's the summer potluck, which represents a chance for neighbors to hang out in the backyard on a warm evening. There's the winter potluck, an opportunity to socialize during the holidays. Then there's the spring potluck, which is largely driven by the school calendar, sports-team celebrations, PTA evenings and awards ceremonies. Each event, it seems, warrants a potluck. This can be wearing, to say the least.

As a veteran potlucker, I have developed a set of criteria that any dish must pass before I consider making it.

1. It must be easy. Why slave over a dish that's going to be plundered by a phalanx of hungry potluck-goers? Save the heirloom, three-day coq au vin for a dinner party.

2. It must be affordable. The general rule at potlucks is to bring enough food to feed at least one-and-a-half times as many people as you bring to the event. If you're contemplating bouillabaisse or osso bucco, this could get pricey.

3. It must be tasty and family-friendly. Face it: Your reputation is on the line. Bringing your dish home with food still in it is the culinary "walk of shame." Pleasing the crowd can be even harder when half the attendees are schoolchildren. But resist the temptation to bring a giant vat of mac and cheese made from a box. You have your pride.

4. It should be healthy. After all, don't you want to model good eating habits to your daughter's softball team? A healthy, tasty dish also guarantees there will be something at the potluck that YOU want to eat!

I found a couple of dishes that fit all of the criteria beautifully in a retro-looking new book "I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening!" by Devin Alexander (2010 Broadway Books). The perky Alexander was the chef on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" and is the author of "The Biggest Loser Cookbook." Her motto, according to her publicist, is "20 minutes in the kitchen can save you three hours on the treadmill!" Her "ravio-sagne" -- made with store-bought ravioli -- is, she says, "insanely great for potlucks." Likewise, her barbecue "wings" made of skinless chicken tenders will be gobbled in a trice.

• Marialisa Calta is the author of "Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the American Family" (2005 Perigee). More at marialisacalta.com.