Salad food I have to finish first (6)
I believe the answer is:
endive
'salad' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'i have to finish first' is the wordplay.
'i have' becomes 'I've' (contraction of 'I have').
'to finish' becomes 'end' (synonyms).
'first' says to put letters next to each other.
'ive' after 'end' is 'ENDIVE'.
'food' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for endive that I've seen before include "salad ingredient" , "Edible plant" , "Salad plant with crisp curly leaves" , "Envied (anag.)" , "Curly-leaved plant used as salad" .)