American dish was fad: dollar wasted (7,5)
I believe the answer is:
waldorf salad
'american dish' is the definition.
'Waldorf salad' can be an answer for 'dish' (Waldorf salad is an example). I'm unsure of the 'american' bit.
'was fad dollar wasted' is the wordplay.
'wasted' indicates an anagram.
'was'+'fad'+'dollar'='wasfaddollar'
'wasfaddollar' anagrammed gives 'WALDORF SALAD'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for waldorf salad that I've seen before include "Apples, celery, walnuts and mayo" , "eats" , "Mix of apples, walnuts, celery, etc" , "Vegetarian dish of celery, apples, walnuts and mayonnaise" .)