Take the task of creating a meal and break it into stages.

Stage 1: Select 1 salad
There are 8 different salads from which to choose, so we can complete stage 1 in 8 ways

Stage 2: Select 1 main course
There are 5 different main courses from which to choose, so we can complete stage 2 in 5 ways

Stage 3: Select 2 different desserts
Since the order in which we select the desserts does not matter, we can use combinations.
We can select 2 desserts from 6 desserts in 6C2 ways (15 ways)
So, we can complete stage 3 in 15 ways

By the Fundamental Counting Principle (FCP), we can complete all 3 stages (and thus create a meal) in (8)(5)(15) ways (= 600 ways)

Answer: D