In a medium bowl mix together ground chicken, egg, panko crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt & black pepper. Form tiny 1 TBS sized meatballs.
Heat up 1 TBS cooking oil in a large soup pot or Dutch Oven over medium high heat. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides. (This may happen in two batches.) Remove browned meatballs onto a plate and set aside.NOTE: we are not cooking the meatballs all the way through just browning them. In the same pot add an additional TBS of oil and heat it up. Add in celery, onion, and carrots. Season with salt & pepper (1/8 tsp each). Saute vegetables until softened. Add in garlic and cook and stir for 1 additional minute.
Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. (Season to taste with salt & black pepper, approx 1/4 tsp each.)
Once it comes to a boil, add in the uncooked orzo pasta and the browned up meatballs. Reduce heat to a medium/medium low and cook per the time on the back of the pasta package until pasta is done and meatballs are cooked through.
Turn off the heat. Stir in fresh baby spinach until wilted. Garnish soup with extra parmesan cheese is desired.
