Retired teacher loves eating dry food (7)
I believe the answer is:
risotto
'food' is the definition.
(risotto is a kind of food)
'retired teacher loves eating dry' is the wordplay.
'retired' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'teacher' becomes 'sir' (I've seen this before**).
'loves' becomes 'oo'.
'eating' indicates putting letters inside.
'dry' becomes 'tt' (abbreviation for teetotal).
'sir' written backwards gives 'ris'.
'oo' going around 'tt' is 'otto'.
'ris'+'otto'='RISOTTO'
(Other definitions for risotto that I've seen before include "dishy thing!" , "You cook it in stock" , "Italian recipe" , "Italian food" , "Italian course" .)