Learn the basics of selection, preparation, cooking and storing fruits, vegetables and salads.

There are a wide large variety of fruits and many different ways these delicious products can be incorporated into a menu. They can be served raw, dried or cooked.  They can be part of a beverage, entrée, salad, main meal, a dessert, relish, garnish or just used as decoration.

A vegetable is any plant or any part of a plant which is edible. Different parts of the plant may be eaten including the roots (carrots), the leaf (bok choy), the fruit (zucchini), the stem (broccoli), the seed (peas) and the underground stem or tuber (potatoes).  Vegetables add nutrition, colour, texture and flavour to a meal.

A salad is a dish consisting of a mixture of small pieces of food and are often accompanied or bound by a dressing. A salad can contain meat, grains, fruits, nuts, cheese etc.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this subject, you will be able to:

• Identify a broad range of fruits, vegetables and fresh salad items
• Recognise the quality points of fruit, vegetables and salad items
• Prepare a range of fruit, vegetable and salad items for cooking Identify different types of salads salad dressing