Vegetables are cut up to be put on plates (8)
I believe the answer is:
radishes
'vegetables' is the definition.
(radish is a kind of vegetable)
'are cut up to be put on plates' is the wordplay.
'cut' means to remove the last letter.
'up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'to be put on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (some letters go on or after others).
'plates' becomes 'dishes' (I've seen this before).
'are' with its last letter taken away is 'ar'.
'ar' written backwards gives 'ra'.
'ra'+'dishes'='RADISHES'
(Other definitions for radishes that I've seen before include "Content of salad bowl" , "Salad vegetables" , "salad plants" , "Pungent fleshy edible roots" , "Pungent roots for salads" .)