beginner e4 response for black

Looking for the black E4 response that is similar to Ruy Lopez.  Not similar to Ruy Lopez in the sense of the moves but similar in the sense that - for the Ruy Lopez they say that it's not just memorizing the moves but to understand Ruy Lopez is to understand chess opening principles.  Is there a black E4 response that is similar to that.  Not something hypermodern or steeped in nuance and a bunch of complicated things to remember.  I like Ruy Lopez for white and Nimzo-Indian for black D4 response but haven't found anything good for black E4 response that I don't find overcomplicated as I work on other beginner stuff like doing a lot of puzzles and such.

Thanks!

Around 2010, IM John Watson wrote, "... For players with very limited experience, ... the Sicilian Defence ... normally leaves you with little room to manoeuvre and is best left until your positional skills develop. ... I'm still not excited about my students playing the Sicilian Defence at [the stage where they have a moderate level of experience and some opening competence], because it almost always means playing with less space and development, and in some cases with exotic and not particularly instructive pawn-structures. ... if you're taking the Sicilian up at [say, 1700 Elo and above], you should put in a lot of serious study time, as well as commit to playing it for a few years. ..."

In 2014, Pete Tamburro wrote, "... You will see [in Openings for Amateurs] the reply to 1.e4 to be the great reply of the open games with 1...e5. The Sicilian Dragon is presented as an alternative. ... I have found that scholastic players take to the Sicilian Dragon very quickly. ... A cautionary note: the Dragon is good at club level, but as you start facing better players you're going to find yourself memorizing tons of lines and the latest analysis, ... From my experience with coaching players below 1800, you won't need to do that too much. ..."

I think it is common advice that one start with the sort of openings discussed in books like First Steps: 1 e4 e5.
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7790.pdf

Might be a good idea to first read Discovering Chess Openings.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf

The following article not only suggests openings books, but also contains some links to resources related to choosing an opening repertoire (at the end of the article)...

Good Chess Openings Books For Beginners and Beyond....

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-openings-books-for-beginners-and-beyond

sicilian defense

1. e4... c5

e5. 

Ruy lopez is an excellent opening (kind of the gold standard). Your best bet is going with a morphy defense, and then maybe trying to learn the berlin defense.

And most would say sicilian (c5). I personally dislike it and will rarely play it.

In my opinion, a guico piano (Nc6, Bc5) is an incredibly solid option, though that is a response to the italian game, which I would expect alot at your level.

The caro-kann has it's fans, but I have never found it too effective.

Maybe look at the french? Most people who play white detest playing this, but it could work for you.

And if you have some study time, petrov's defense.

Oh and if you do sicilian, do classic sicilian. DO NOT do dragon variation. It is a trap for new players.

I appreciate the responses. Thanks. Lots to consider and research 

It's just personal preference. Try out different openings and do lots of studies on high-level games with the defenses you choose to employ. Also as you begin to get better and start to rise up in rating, you'll start meeting a lot of 1.d4 players. 1... Nf6 is the best response to this.

CARO KANN

There are lots of responses to e4, like e5, c5, e.t.c

I would advice you try out different responses and you would subconsciously prefer one reponse to another