Patchy dish unadorned (7)
I believe the answer is:
piebald
'patchy' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'dish unadorned' is the wordplay.
'dish' becomes 'pie' (I've seen this before).
'unadorned' becomes 'bald' (I've seen this before).
'pie'+'bald'='PIEBALD'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for piebald that I've seen before include "(Of horse) black and white in patches" , "Marked in two different colours, especially black and white" , "Two-coloured (horse)" , "Two-toned" , "(Of horse) patched with two colours" .)