Fruit is an ingredient that is often used as part of every meal of the day, and for snacking in-between, in just about every cuisine.
As far as nutritionists are concerned, despite its being a sweet food, we can practically never eat too much of it, provided we consume it in its whole (unjuiced) form.
Fruit can be consumed on its own out of hand as a snack, or, be used as an ingredient in a dish.
See also: Fruit (main entry)