@starkat I was just thinking pasta salad too — specifically couscous salad, which I know I had an excellent recipe for years ago but it must be in one of my cookbooks that are still in Australia!! You can use all sorts of ingredients to your taste and most sorts will keep for 5 days in the fridge — I remember I used to make a batch for the whole week and then take a portion to work with me each day. If you put the day's portion in a plastic container with a lid, you can pack it in with your ice packs to keep it cool, and take along a spoon or fork to eat it with. (I gather you don't have an office job!! )

Here are a couple of recipes I just found that are something like what I used to make, although I know mine definitely had chickpeas and a tomato-based sauce. Any of these recipes can be tweaked to suit what you like or what you have on hand, anyway — I'd try them as written and then see if they need more or less spice, tang, sweetening, etc....

Vegan Couscous Salad

High Protein Couscous Recipe

(Not suggesting you ought to go vegetarian or vegan here — I'm not either! — but plant-based foods generally last longer in the fridge, so they're a good idea when you want to make something that should keep for several days.)

@starkat We generally use whatever vegetables are in season (carrots, cucumbers, green beans, green pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, cherry tomatoes, etc.) or if the fresh veggies aren't very fresh/appetizing we will use frozen green beans, broccoli, whatever frozen vegetables our grocery store has in stock, or a mix of fresh and frozen. My mom and some of my brothers love olives in their pasta salad but they are too salty for me. Sometimes we make a homemade dressing but a store-bought one is often just as good and you can try a different dressing every time you need a new bottle to keep it interesting. For protein you can use ham, pepperoni, feta, fresh mozzarella, roast chicken, basically whatever you like and think will go best with your dressing of choice. Combine with a bag of cooked and drained pasta (elbow macaroni, penne, bowties all work very well for a pasta salad).

Thanks everyone! I'm taking notes and making something I can use in the kitchen. For simplicity, I'm going to go with sandwiches for this and the next show, but I will be making plans for the next five weeks of shows. 

@Courtenay , I am currently working horse shows as a ring side photographer for another photographer. It's the end of the year shows, so they are huge and crazy and busy. I don't get a lunch break because the rings keep running no matter what unless there is lightning or a trainer conflict with another ring. It's why things like salads with lettuce are tricky. But pasta salad is a ground I hadn't thought about. So I am very thankful for everyone's help. 

On Saturday I made a big batch of rolls. On Sunday we wanted to take lunch with us to eat after church, so I mixed up pizza sauce and made cheese pizza rolls for the first time. So Sunday lunch was pizza rolls (no meat this time), cherry tomatoes, and chips with apple cinnamon rolls for dessert, everyone was pleased with the meal and the cleanup was so easy.   I froze some of the leftover pizza rolls to see if I could make them farther head next time. For the last year or so, I have been freezing at least one pan of rolls every time I make them to have for Sundays to speed up after church meals, but normally just plain wheat rolls.

@snowangel That sounds delicious! Do you have a recipe?