```python
from fastapi import FastAPI
import helpers
import asyncio

app = FastAPI()


@app.post("/orders", status_code=201)
async def create_order(order: dict):
    """
    Process an incoming order without blocking the event loop.
    The blocking `helpers.process_order` is executed in a separate thread.
    """
    processed_order = await asyncio.to_thread(helpers.process_order, order)
    return processed_order
```