It’s no secret I was definitely rooting for Aarti to win the Next Food Network Star title.

And now that she has, I have to say I absolutely, positively love her cooking show, Aarti’s Party. It’s so much fun that 30 minutes whizzes by like nobody’s business.

Now while I definitely love me some Indian food, I’ll be honest: I’ve never actually tried to make any. But with Aarti’s decidedly Indian twist on good ol’ fashioned American dishes like bread pudding (yum!), sloppy joes and roast chicken, well, I think I’m finally ready to invest in some garam masala and cardamom (which Williams Sonoma now carries…how convenient!) and give it a try!

While I doubt I’ll whip up the perfect naan or chicken tikka masala any time soon (I’ll leave those to the experts), Aartie definitely makes cooking with Indian spices seem less intimidating. Plus, you gotta love a girl who cooks dinner and dessert for her weekly accountability group. Where can I sign up?