I've made this quite a bit for potlucks & everyone seems to enjoy it. It serves roughly 10 so you'd want to double it.

Fruit & Yogurt Pasta Salad

4 oz (1 cup) uncooked small shells
1 (11 oz) can mandarin orange segments, drained
1 (8 oz) can pineapple chunks or tidbits, drained
1 cup halved seedless green grapes
1 (6 oz) container low-fat yogurt (I use tropical, lemon is good too)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup halved strawberries

Cook pasta & drain. Rinse with cold water to cool.
Combine cooked pasta & all remaining ingredients except strawberries, mix gently to coat. Cover, refrigerate to blend flavors. Just before serving, stir in strawberries.

5 Cans and Eat
{my version}

Crockpot, microwave, stove top or oven.

can of chili con carne
can of kidney beans
can of black beans
can of corn
can of pitted olives

adjust for portions with more cans or larger cans
add all together, stir gently and heat thoroughly

serve in bowls with salsa, grated cheese, sour cream or with tortilla chips, tortillas, taco shells etc .

Faith, my son had school gathering last year, all boys deal, I made spaghetti salad as a side dish and he didn`t bring any home.

1 pound spaghetti
1/8 cup diced green pepper
1/8 cup diced onions,(red for color)
1/8 cup diced black olives
1/8 cup diced pepper cheese
1/8 cup diced pepperoni
1/2 cup Kraft zesty Italian dressing or to taste
Chill before serving

I tripled this like 25 16 to 17 year olds.

Have you tried googling "cold side dishes"?

Everyone's ideas here sounded good to me - kids of all ages love jello - it's easy and inexpensive and like Moose said - I don't think they're worried about "empty calories"!!! :D

Jello Jigglers are easy to make - and they travel well. They are a little "thicker" than standard jello and you can cut them into squares.