Why Is Gray Matter Gray?
The terms gray and white matter relate to their color in gross specimens (i.e., not microscopic specimens) that have been formalin fixed. Nissl granules describe a microscopic structure, the rough endoplasmic reticulum, and aren't directly related to the color of gross specimens. Here's an example of a frontal cross section from a University of Utah slide set:



You'll see it's generally a tannish-yellow (at least on my monitor, this image is a pretty good representation of what it looks like in person), but there are lighter "white" parts in the white matter areas, and darker "gray" parts in the cortex. 

A live, or a recently deceased and not formalin fixed brain has different qualities, including color and consistency.

The color of the formalin fixed tissue is an artifact of the process of fixing, so it's not necessarily accurate to describe the gray color as something inherent to the cells in the gray matter, but generally yes, the whiter color in the white matter of formalin fixed brain is because of the high lipid concentration. The grayer color of the gray matter is because of the lower lipid concentration. This lovely old JBC article from 1929 discusses some of these issues, mostly regarding white matter in response to staining after fixation, but also gray and white matter before staining.