"That looks kinda good..." how to respond to the picky eater

So I've been eating sesame seeds on my stir-fry for years. I have a shaker, and M always enjoys sprinkling it on my food. At least a year ago I (finally) stopped reminding her she could have it too if she wanted... So, without comment I would say, "M, do you want to sprinkle my sesame seeds for me?" and she would.  Last night she sprinkled and looked and said, "That looks kinda good." I said, "Yup. I like it" and went on. On her second helping she said again, "That looks good,"  and she saved some rice and sauce and then sprinkled some on.  She looked again and repeated,"That looks kinda good." In my head I was thrilled, getting ready for her to love a new food, and was already composing today's post. Something like "After years of patiently waiting, she finally tried the sesame seeds and loved them! Oh, and sesame seeds are a great source of calcium!" Except it looked more like this: She put the bite in her mouth, chewed a little, made a face and gagging noises. Looked around for the paper napkin (that I happened to forget to put out since it was just the two of us last night) leaned forward to spit the half-chewed mess out and said, "That was gross." I did remind her that she can say she didn't like it, but that I liked it and that "gross" wasn't a great word.  She went on to have a little more rice and sauce  without incident.  A couple things came to mind.1) I follow the DOR, but for some reason I continued to offer and remind her she could have them until recently. I see lots of parents do this, and for sensitive kids they experience this as pressure and it slows them down. (Avoid the, "It's so yummy, are you SURE you don't want to try a little bit?" or any variation...) M saw it enough to know that if she wanted it she could have it.2) Don't take the bait. When she said, "It looks kinda good," yes, I got excited, but I refrained from over-selling.  A simple, "I like it", or "Oh", will suffice. Again resist, "It IS yummy, Mommy loves it and it will make your bones grow big and strong!"3) Even adventurous kids are entitled to be cautious, to try a food, to spit it out, to not like it. Resist praising, "At least you tried it," or "I am so proud of you, what a big girl for trying a new food." As one mom put it, slap on your pleasant "poker face." So when she says, "I don't like it" you can say, "OK" and move on. Save your praise for good behavior at the table. "I love how you helped me lay the table," instead of what or how much your kids eat.The meal ended well, she enjoyed the napa cabbage, the left-over pork pieces, the mushrooms, bean sprouts and sugar snap peas that were all mixed in. In time, she may or may not like sesame seeds, but she is more likely to try them again because I didn't make a big fuss. Meanwhile she gets exposed to the flavors in sesame oil I add to stir-fry occasionally or our ginger salad dressing, hummus etc. It's a process that can take months to years.