Nonconformist cooks the rice differently (7)
I believe the answer is:
heretic
'nonconformist' is the definition.
(I know that heretic is a type of nonconformist)
'the rice differently' is the wordplay.
'differently' is an anagram indicator.
'the'+'rice'='therice'
'therice' anagrammed gives 'HERETIC'.
'cooks' is the link.
This may not be right. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for heretic that I've seen before include "Person of unorthodox beliefs" , "One with unorthodox opinions" , "contrarian" , "One with unorthodox beliefs" , "One having unorthodox religious belief" .)