```python
import asyncio
from fastapi import FastAPI, Request

import helpers  # noqa: F401

app = FastAPI()


@app.post("/orders", status_code=201)
async def create_order(request: Request):
    order_data = await request.json()
    # Offload the blocking helpers.process_order to a thread pool
    loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
    processed_order = await loop.run_in_executor(
        None, helpers.process_order, order_data
    )
    return processed_order
```