OK, Brain Trust! Please help me find the most festive, flavorful (fill in this blank) to bring to our all-staff holiday noon pot luck in a few weeks.

i love all these ideas! here's an easy peasy rice salad - just made it again for a friends' potluck last weekend and it was a bit hit. http://www.food52.com/recipes/12730_fruited_rice_salad

http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/6484/Haricots-Verts-With-Walnuts-and-Walnut-Oil.html

A torta with layers of cream cheese, sundried tomatoes and pesto. Pine nuts around the outside and garnish with fresh basil. Tastes great and has all the christmas colours

These look deadly decadent and satisfy not only the make-ahead requirement, but also the pot-luck paper plate protocol, as well. That they are a family recipe that you have refined and re-crafted makes them all the more unique.

I took these little guys to my office party a couple of years ago and now my folks request them every year. The really good thing is that you can make them a couple of days in advance, and glaze them the day before the party http://food52.com/recipes/19499_ischler_cookies

ATG117's answer reminded me of a dish I recreated from a restaurant. Farro (wheat berries would work too), sautéed criminis, lightly steamed haricot verts, toasted hazelnuts, fresh thyme and I think there were carmelized shallots. Then a balsamic vinaigrette. I added chèvre too. Everyone loved it.

another grain option is wheat berries. One op that would work nicely with any of these cooked grains is to add some chopped toasted nut (pecans, almosnds, walnuts), dried cranberries, roasted, and dices butternut squash, and thinly sliced green onions. You can dress all of that, an hour before serving with a dressing that includes oil, OJ, red wine vinegar (just enough to give it some extra acidity), kosher salt and fresh black pepper

I'd go for a wild rice or quinoa salad that can be stored in the refrigerator and taken out an hour before you're ready to serve it, so that it can come to roomp temp.

What about making a really gorgeous salad, like this one http://theyearinfood.com/2012/10/delicata-squash-salad-with-roasted-potatoes-and-pomegranate-seeds.html but with thinly sliced kale instead of the arugula so that it will stay nice and undroopy for many hours.
Or this one: http://www.food52.com/recipes/15584_northern_spys_kale_salad

Or, if you want to do dessert, these are INSANELY good and really easy to make:

http://m.foodandwine.com/recipes/mini-chocolate-hazelnut-cheesecakes

What about a kale and butternut squash tart? Tamar Adler has a great custard base for any savory tart: whisk 1 1/2 cups ricotta, 1/4 cup good olive oil, 2 TBSP cream, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 2 egg yolks, a pinch of chopped fresh thyme or rosemary. Bake the custard in the raw shell for about 15 minutes at 400 (until it is just firm to the touch).

Then top it with cubed or sliced roasted butternut squash (I would cube it and roast it in olive oil, S & P, and a little brown sugar) tossed with sautéed or par-roasted kale, and bake for another 10 minutes. It can be served at room temp, the colors of the squash and kale are beautiful together, and, I think it would be very festive and yummy.

One of my potluck favorites is Amanda's Haricots Vert with Walnuts and Walnut Oil from Cooking for Mr. Latte. It's easy to make and tastes great at room temperature. If you wanted to make it a little more substantial you could add slices of boiled fingerling potatoes and adjust the seasonings a bit.

Spiked egg nog or mulled cider (kept warm in the crockpot) or latkas.

Here's a soup (http://www.marthastewart.com/865625/leek-and-parsnip-soup-caviar-and-black-pepper-cream)
salad (http://www.marthastewart.com/865626/beet-fennel-and-carrot-salad;
and a fun dessert (http://www.marthastewart.com/865751/mini-chocolate-coconut-cakes) for your holiday party
dessert

I loved making this recipe: http://www.food52.com/recipes/13923_warm_salad_with_cherry_tomatoharicot_vert_and_pancetta

It is festive, you can use regular green beans instead of haricots verts, you can serve it warm or at room temp, and you can leave out the pancetta is you want to. It's very pretty with the tomatoes and beans and speaks to the holiday season.