After flirting for the past few months, the Vikings and veteran guard Dalton Risner have finally committed to each other.

A source confirmed to the Pioneer Press on Wednesday morning that the Vikings have agreed to terms with Risner, paving the way for him to start once again on the offensive line. It will be a 1-year deal for Risner, according to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, with a chance for him to make additional money with incentives.

After signing with the Vikings last season, Risner eventually carved out a niche for himself. He ended up starting 11 games for the Vikings at left guard proving himself as a very reliable option in pass protection.

The news of Risner’s return likely means fellow guard Blake Brandel will transition back into a depth role. He had been getting all the reps with the starters during organized team activities and drew praise from offensive coordinator Wes Phillips last week.

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DALLAS – Minnesota led by two with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter of Game 4.

Karl-Anthony Towns had just nailed a triple on the possession prior.

Kyle Anderson had begged Anthony Edwards to make the skip pass to the open corner shooter throughout the game.

In this situation, Anderson knew what needed to happen, and he was going to make sure it played out as he intended.

Towns was standing on the wing as the play developed, and Anderson waved and clapped his hands to get the sharpshooter’s attention and direct him to the corner. Anderson then planted himself a few feet in front of Towns so no one could get in the big man’s vision.

At this point, Edwards had taken a few probing dribbles to get near the paint on the opposite side..

“He’s out there. I was dribbling the ball,” Edwards recalled. “I damn sure was about to shoot it.”

Then he made eye contact with Anderson, who was vehemently waving in Towns’ direction. That was where the ball needed to go.

“I’m like, ‘OK, cool,’” Edwards said.

The guard passed it over the top of the defense to Towns. Anderson used his body to prevent Dallas guard Kyrie Irving from entering Towns’ air space, and Towns calmly knocked down another triple – the third of four he hit Tuesday – to put the Wolves up by five.

“Kyle made that play happen tonight,” Towns said. “He made a lot of plays happen.”

On both ends of the floor. Defensively, Anderson has the length, physicality and craft to be able to put up as good of a fight against Luka Doncic as anyone on Minnesota’s roster.

But, offensively, Anderson is a particularly needed cog – especially in this series, especially with the game on the line. Throughout the first three games of the Western Conference Finals, Minnesota struggled to generate any sort of good offense with the contest in the balance. But Anderson helped direct a number of possessions like the one that ended in that open Towns’ corner triple.

“I mean, some of it is just Kyle with the freedom that we give him to run the offense,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “He got us into some really clever stuff tonight. Just understanding how to get guys involved.”

In this series, Anderson has 14 assists to just two turnovers. He had four dimes and zero giveaways Tuesday. Over the course of the four games, Anderson is one of just three Wolves players with a positive net rating – Minnesota is out-scoring Dallas by 1.3 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor – and he touts the team’s lowest turnover ratio and highest assist ratio.

Anderson played 10 minutes in the final frame of Game 4. He logged two assists, two steals and zero turnovers. Keep in mind, nothing showed up in the box score for Anderson when the forward conducted the play resulting in the Towns’ corner three.

Towns used one apt word to describe the 30-year-old reserve: “Special.”

“He’s just so smart. He finds the right spaces, he gets the ball to the right people. Handling, screening, he’s playcalling,” Finch said. “Yeah, I mean it’s something.”

Anderson has long contested he’s a point guard in a 6-foot-9 frame. And, when he’s on the floor, he’s often Minnesota’s quarterback – who can scan the floor and read the defense far more clearly when he can … well, see.

Anderson earned Finch’s complete trust a campaign ago. The versatile forward trailed only Jordan McLaughlin in net rating among rotation players a year ago – with the Wolves out-scoring opponents by 2.3 points per 100 possessions when Anderson was on the floor.

Folks were debating where Anderson ranked among the franchise’s all-time free-agent acquisitions. He shot 41 percent from deep while serving as one of the team’s primary playmakers and was a strong defender.

Anderson was a major reason the Wolves reached the playoffs last year.

Which made his struggles this season all the more confounding. He made so many plays that left you scratching your head. Like a pass in San Antonio in mid-November, in which Anderson came off a ball screen, dribbled into the heart of the paint and then kicked out to Naz Reid – or, where Reid was standing seconds earlier, prior to relocating. By the time Anderson threw the pass, there was no one in the vicinity of the ball’s final destination.

It was as though Anderson was passing to where he assumed Reid was, because he didn’t exactly know where Reid was.

“I just couldn’t see much. I couldn’t make reads. In some arenas, it would be blurry. The lights would mess with me from up top,” Anderson said. “San Antonio, in particular, it was very hard for me to see.”

It was Game 4 of the first round of the West playoffs a year ago when Anderson – in the midst of one of his best seasons to date – was inadvertently smacked across the face by Edwards. Anderson missed Game 5, which Denver won to end Minnesota’s campaign.

But Anderson’s issues remained. His eye was severely injured. Doctors within the state raised questions as to whether Anderson would be able to continue his playing career. The forward admitted he was “spooked.”

Additional opinions received in California and Pennsylvania suggested otherwise and Anderson did have surgery on the eye in mid-May.

But vision issues weren’t immediately resolved. Anderson wasn’t cleared to play basketball until July. He noted at the beginning of training camp that he’d play pickup games in small New Jersey gyms and not be able to see a thing.

Weeks after he was cleared to play, he was off to the World Championships to compete for China. He didn’t play particularly well in the competition. His sight – or lack thereof – made it difficult to carry out any play he envisioned.

Still, Anderson didn’t seem worried heading into the NBA campaign. He was confident in the progress he’d made and believed he could turn things around.

“I wasn’t just going to quit,” Anderson said. “I didn’t want it to end like that.”

On media day, he noted “in an NBA arena with great lighting, it should be fine.”

Not the case.

“Missing easy shots, I couldn’t make reads, I couldn’t playmake and things like that,” Anderson said. “My depth perception was so messed up. Like the rim looked so far (away).”

The struggles were all evident in his play.

Through the first 52 games of the season, Anderson sported the worst effective field goal percentage among rotation players (48.3 percent). His turnover ratio rivaled that of Towns and Rudy Gobert. He was hitting 19.4 percent of his 3-point attempts.

It was ugly, and a stark contrast from the brilliance Anderson delivered the year prior.

“It was super frustrating,” Anderson said. “Just the player I was this year, I think people know that’s not who I am.”

The past three and a half months have been a far more accurate depiction. He did a number of rehab exercises with assistant athletic trainer Erin Sierer, which helped him acclimate to playing under and adjusting to the lighting of NBA arenas. It all helped him “make reads, process things and be able to make that connection stronger with my eye and my brain.”

Just prior to the all-star break, Anderson felt a true breakthrough. In road games in Los Angeles and Portland he felt like he could see more.

“When I catch the ball,” he said, “I can see the rim.”

That does help.

He had six assists and zero turnovers in a Feb. 12 win over the Clippers. The next night, he had eight dimes and zero giveaways against the Blazers.

With the eye issues largely resolved, Anderson was able to go home for all-star break and truly work on his game and regain his comfort on the court. He returned to Minnesota a better player. So much of his post-break revival was attributed to the absence of Towns, which allowed Anderson to play more of his natural position – power forward. But Anderson said Towns’ meniscus injury simply allowed him to log more minutes. He attributed the return to form to his re-established vision.

“I was able to get more minutes, more comfortable. I think I’ve played well since the all-star break,” Anderson said. “I think I was able to turn my season around.”

Certainly, Anderson has been imperative for Minnesota this series. He’s shooting 59 percent from the floor in the West Finals.

But he won’t say he’s back to the player he was a year ago – not yet. He noted his lack of offseason work last season, which was derailed by both his lack of vision and the death of his shooting coach, Bob Thate, who passed away at age 76 in early June due to COVID-19 related complications.

“So this year was super tough for me,” Anderson said. “I just wasn’t the player that I know I can be.”

The player everyone remembers, and is getting a glimpse of in this series.

“It’s great to see. I know how good he is,” Edwards said. “I used to play against him early in my career when he was on Memphis, and he was killing it. It’s great to see him getting back to that.”

Whenever this season ends – be it with Thursday’s Game 5 at Target Center, after a championship parade in Minneapolis in June or sometime in between – Anderson, who will be a free agent in the offseason, vows to have a “great summer” in which he can truly regain his shooting form, among other things.

“And really get back to myself,” Anderson said.

The future — so uncertain a year ago — is something he sees quite clearly.

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The new season of “The Bear” is coming soon, and one memorable scene from the last season starts with chef Sydney Adamu, played by Ayo Edebiri, cracking a few eggs into a bowl. She then enters the meditative bliss that is making a perfect omelet. Watching her nudge the golden disk over and around a line of creamy cheese brings to mind the sandwich scene from the 2004 movie “Spanglish,” where Adam Sandler, playing a chef alone in his home kitchen after a long night at the restaurant, slides a fried egg over bacon and tomatoes shingled on a thick slice of toast.

What they have in common is how well they capture the culinary ecstasy of making dishes best prepared as single servings in the quiet of the kitchen. In those moments, all of your senses are attuned to creating this small, simple, beautiful thing.

It works only when cooking for one.

This isn’t to say that’s what the experience is always like. If you’ve been cooking for only yourself for years, you’ve already lived this reality. But if you’re new to it, on your own after crowded college dorms or packed family homes, know that preparing single-serving meals can feel more challenging than cooking for a crew.

Klancy Miller celebrated the joys of cooking for one in her 2016 book “Cooking Solo: The Fun of Cooking for Yourself,” but at a certain point during the pandemic, she burned out in the kitchen and turned to takeout.

“Eventually, I kind of did get back to cooking for myself,” she said, “but in a much more basic way.” She still believes in “going all out for yourself,” but now prioritizes figuring out how to simplify dishes to make regularly.

The key to cooking well for one is choosing the right recipes. These tips will help you navigate what will work for you:

Figure out what you like.

It may seem obvious, but there’s a lot of noise on social media to try, say, eating only meat or surviving on snacks. If you examine what you truly want — and then stock those ingredients — you may be less tempted to order in.

“When you think about what you eat over the course of a week, what do you enjoy?” Miller suggested asking yourself, “and what are the very easy things?”

That second question is critical: Whatever you make should be worth its cost in time, energy and dollars. If you’re craving fries or a complex fine-dining dish, you’re better off going out. The recipes that make the most sense are streamlined, even if they’re as fancy as steak or scallops.

For simple daily sustenance, consider how many times a week you’d be happy having the same dish. Oatmeal for breakfast all week? Quesadillas for dinner once? And maybe once more if stuffed with mushrooms?

Stock up where you can, and relish smaller trips to the store otherwise.

Build a shopping list based on the above, then choose the right quantity of each item. Unless you already make yourself three meals a day or know that you will, stick to buying smaller amounts of groceries, especially fresh items. If you still end up with food on the verge of spoiling, cook it right away to extend its life and avoid having to waste it. (Even lettuce can be stir-fried!)

Larger packages of food generally cost less per ounce, so it’s worth getting them if you can. Pantry staples such as pasta, rice, canned goods, spices and vinegars last, as do freezer foods like shrimp and peas, so you can get those in bulk. And if you know you want yogurt every morning, go for the big tub instead of the small cups.

Making multiple grocery runs a week for perishables doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Miller views going to the grocery store as “Yay! I got out, and it’s the excuse I need to get out of the house.” She buys meat and produce, including herbs, which can give life to pantry ingredients like grains.

Rethink ‘meal prep.’

It’s hard to know what that term even means, but it sounds like an obligation more stressful than making a meal start-to-finish — or ordering delivery. To set yourself up to cook without the anxiety of planning, make dishes that can stretch across multiple meals.

One option you may already be practicing is preparing recipes for four or more servings when you have time. But if you know you’ll be bored of the same thing by Day 3, portion and pack the dish into individual servings to freeze.

If you’re not into big-batch cooking, throw together easy recipes that can be enjoyed just once more in a different dish. Instead of a whole chicken, buy a half bird to get white and dark meat without having to eat it all week.

Make the great meals that are meant for one.

Miller finds that she now cooks the most ambitiously and creatively when hosting dinner parties, but she is returning to doing the same for herself too.

“I believe fundamentally that you should be just as generous to yourself as you are to others,” she said. “You are worth the extravagance. You deserve nice things too, like a really lavish breakfast.”

A hot sandwich with a runny egg ranks high in this category. Eating one right after it’s stacked ensures that the cheese stays melty, the egg oozy and the bread toasty-crisp yet soft. This meeting of egg-in-a-hole and grilled cheese stretches the delight as a fork-and-knife meal to eat leisurely with a cup of coffee. With a cold beer, it’s just as satisfying at dinner. It captures the spirit Henry David Thoreau describes in the opening line of his chapter on solitude in “Walden”: “This is a delicious evening, when the whole body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore.”

Cooking for one may seem like a chore, but when you make yourself meals you love, it’s also deeply gratifying.

Tzatziki Tuna Salad

Tzatziki tuna salad. Keep a container of this tuna salad in the refrigerator to turn into sandwiches or enjoy as a salad or dip any time of day. Food styled by Rebecca Jurkevich. (Linda Xiao/The New York Times)

By Genevieve Ko

Tuna salad often includes mayonnaise, but this version delivers a similar creaminess with Greek yogurt, which imparts a freshness to the mix. Here, the yogurt is seasoned with the classic garlic-dill combination of tzatziki, which goes surprisingly well with sharp yellow mustard. Cucumber is traditionally used in tzatziki, but for this tuna salad, celery is also a fun, crunchy variation. (You also can add celery to the salad if starting with store-bought tzatziki.) If you have only tuna packed in water on hand, simply drain the tuna well and stir olive oil into the salad for richness. Sandwich the tuna between bread, mix it into a salad or enjoy it as a dip with chips or crackers.

Yield: 1 Serving

Total time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

For the Tzatziki (or use 1/4 cup store-bought):

1 very small garlic clove
Salt
3 tablespoons plain full-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons finely diced cucumber or celery
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

For the Tuna Salad:

1 (5-ounce) can tuna packed in olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
Salt and black pepper
Bread, lettuce, cucumber slices or chips, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Make the tzatziki: Smash the garlic, remove the peel, then sprinkle with salt and chop very finely. (The salt helps the garlic break down and tempers its sharpness.) Transfer to a medium bowl and add the yogurt, cucumber, dill and lemon juice. Stir, taste and add more salt.
Make the salad: Add the tuna with its oil and mustard to the tzatziki, and mix well. Taste and add salt and pepper. The salad can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Eat on its own or as a sandwich, salad or dip.

Curry Roasted Half Chicken and Peppers

Curry roasted half chicken and peppers. This sheet-pan chicken starts with a three-pack of peppers, which will deliver a lot of vegetables with your dinner while saving you money. Food styled by Rebecca Jurkevich. (Linda Xiao/The New York Times)

By Genevieve Ko

A half chicken, cut right between the breasts and back, is sold in most supermarkets and just what you want when cooking for one, offering both light and dark meat, and the juiciness that comes with all the bones. After it cooks — quickly, relative to a whole bird — it leaves you with two meals or one very hearty dinner. Here, this curry-rubbed chicken roasts over peppers and onion, which release their natural sweetness into the pan juices. It’s great over rice or with bread, and leftovers can be simmered with coconut milk for a stewed curry, or chopped and mixed with mayonnaise for a chicken salad sandwich.

Yield: 1 to 2 servings

Total time: 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
2 tablespoons Madras or yellow curry powder
3 sweet bell peppers (red, orange and yellow), diced
1 large onion, diced
Salt and black pepper
1 whole half chicken (about 1 1/2 pounds), patted dry with paper towels
Lemon or lime wedges, for serving (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup.
In a small bowl, mix the oil, garlic and curry powder. Toss the peppers and onion with 2 tablespoons of the curry oil. Spread in an even layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Set the chicken over the vegetables and rub the remaining curry oil all over the bird and under the breast skin. Sprinkle the chicken all over with salt and pepper.
Roast until the chicken juices run clear when you stab the drumstick with a paring knife, about 35 minutes. If you’d like, squeeze lemon or lime juice all over before serving.

Egg-in-a-Nest Sandwich

Egg-in-a-nest sandwich. The best solo cooking recipes are meant to be prepared one at a time, like this hot sandwich, a cross between egg-in-a-nest and grilled cheese. Food styled by Rebecca Jurkevich. (Linda Xiao/The New York Times)

By Genevieve Ko

An egg cooked in an egg-size hole cut out of butter-sizzled bread feels like a treat. But it’s not quite enough to make a meal. Here, the classic egg-in-a-nest merges with a grilled cheese and a breakfast sandwich into a meal for one that’s meant to be savored leisurely. It’s as delightful with coffee at the beginning of the day as it is in the middle for lunch, or ending it, whether at supper or at midnight. The bread slices — one cradling the egg, the other holding cheese — cook at the same time over relatively low heat so that they end up perfectly golden brown while the egg sets and the cheese melts. If you’d like a little heat, add hot sauce or any chile powder or flakes.

Yield: 1 serving

Total time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 slices brioche, challah or sandwich bread
Butter
1 to 2 slices cheddar or other cheese
1 egg
Salt and black pepper
1 to 2 slices ham or cooked bacon (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Using a biscuit cutter or a glass, cut a 2- to 3-inch hole out of the center of one slice of bread.
Melt a pat of butter in a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add the bread slices and swipe to soak up the butter. Cook until golden, 1 to 2 minutes, then flip. Run a thin pat of butter on the skillet under the whole slice of bread and drop another little pat in the hole of the other slice.
Put the cheese on the whole slice and crack the egg into the hole. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the egg, then cover the skillet, leaving a small gap. Cook until the egg white is set but the yolk is still runny, 2 to 4 minutes. If the bottoms start to brown too much, turn down the heat.
If using, lay the ham or bacon over the cheese. Top the cheese slice with the egg slice, sunny side up, and eat immediately.

This column originally appeared in the New York Times.

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