Unless you're out there for beating personal bests on Stava or comparing average speeds with your buddies (and even if you are...), wider is generally better with respect to comfort and puncture resistance. Given the stated wants and needs, I'd probably fit as large of a tire as possible. You start adding really good puncture protection with touring tires from Continental and Schwalbe, but the tradeoff is the tires start to become heavier and don't ride as nicely.

Tubeless is generally regarded as an attack against both of those notions -- the ability of a light weight tire to seal small punctures...so you have light-and-supple and the puncture protection you want. Despite this, I prefer tubes myself, paired with a tire of reasonable puncture protection.

I have a pair of Continental Ride Tour tires on one of my bikes and they feel absolutely bomb proof. The tread itself is very thick, and so is the underlayment in the tire carcass. Continental tires in particular tend to run narrow, so a tire labeled 42mm might inflate up to only 38mm, so buy accordingly. One tire that might meet your needs, that's a little less stout than the Ride Tour, is the Continental Speed Ride. Get the foldable version -- it's light, it's relatively supple, it's relatively inexpensive, and it should fit your bike pretty well. It's labeled 700x42, but it'll likely inflate to less than 40mm on your rims. You might also like any of Schwalbe's Marathon series of tires. They're available in a variety of widths, tread patterns, and puncture protection levels.