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Although my skin is fair and I live in the western hemisphere, and although I grew up on bland meat and potatoes, Indian food is my favorite ethnic food. Here's why:

1. Indian food is spicy.

Not all Indian food is spicy in a hot sort of way, but it is all flavored with numerous spices. The spices cause even the most humble food, such as lentils, to come alive with magnificent bursts of flavor.

2. Indian food is, for the most part, healthy.

Although some Indian food is cooked with more oil than ideal, most Indian food (except for desserts) is created with healthy ingredients such as vegetables, spices, and legumes. When I eat Indian food, chances are I'm eating food that is not only pleasing to the pallet, but good for my body as well.

3. Indian food makes vegetables I, and my children dislike, taste good.

For instance, my family cannot stand eggplant, but when we lived in India, we gladly ate it. Prepared properly and seasoned well, eggplant and other less popular vegetables are delicious. (The only exception to this for my entire family is bitter melon. No matter how it is prepared, we detest bitter melon!)

4. Indian food is great for vegetarians.

A good percentage of Indians are vegetarians and thus they have great experience with knowing how to best prepare a great variety of vegetarian dishes. Although I do eat meat, I barely missed meat when living in India, due to the excellent variety of Indian vegetarian food.

5. Indian food includes great breads.

I love the variety of Indian breads, which include mostly flatbreads such as naan and chapattis. Nothing beats the slightly smoky taste of naan, fresh out of a clay, tandoori oven, and chapattis are a great way to include complex carbohydrates into my diet.

6. Indian food is inexpensive.

There may be exceptions, but most Indian food is created with simple ingredients such as vegetables and legumes. The only exception is that numerous spices are used in Indian food and spices can be expensive. However, spices, when purchased in Indian grocery stores, are very reasonably priced.

7. Indian food is readily available in most any good-sized city in the United States.

Although I can and do cook Indian food myself, when I'm lazy but in the mood for Indian food, I don't have to drive too far to get it. There is now even some decent tasting frozen Indian entrees available in grocery stores throughout the U.S.

Learn more about this author, Rebecca Livermore.
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