1. ...e6 by a mile!
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I no longer play the French, when I got to about 1900, the 2000+ crowd would usually play Tarrasch and it was not a fun experience, so I moved on, but below that, not many played the Tarrasch, and if they did, not very well, I was surprised at how often White would just lose the d4 pawn.
I loved the Black side of the Winawer, just all out war :)
When I played French I always loved when people played Tarrasch.
The french fits your ideas perfectly! Sure, not every game you will play has 0-0-0 and all, but if you study the french, you will find that most of the lines do. they are highly dynamic and extreamly fun to play! I was in your mind frame when I started playing the french, and the French turned out to be the prefect answer! (P.S. I don't win evey game with the French, in fact, no matter how much you study chess, you will always have to lose, so if you pick up the French, and lose a few times, don't get discoraged. You will get it!) I when 0-4 in rated OTB chess with my French at first, then I got got the DVD study of the French, "Killer French deffence" And, with a little instruction, learned a great new opening! If you try the French and don't like it, you can try other openings. Whatever you feel most confurtable with.
The Latvian gambit is unique, has open positions, and interesting complications... Sounds like what you're looking for.
I think I was in a similar point about 20 years or so ago, I was about 1500 strength, I tried 1..e5 and 1..c5..and even the Pirc, but wasn't liking the positions. I decided to give the French Defence a try (I was following a lot of Nigel Short's games back then too) and found at that level, most White players just don't know how to deal with it very well. While cramped on the Kingside, you get really fun action on the Queenside..and in some lines, you castle there. Since you play Nimzo as black, the e6, d5 structure isn't too foreign. Anyways, might be worth a look-see.