One of my first investments in the kitchen were good knives. The 3 knives that I use consistently are the Chef, Serrated and Paring Knife. I make sure to keep my “Steele” close by to ensure a straight edge on my Chef knife and I only use bamboo cutting boards.
My Chef or Cook knife is made out of High Carbon Steele and has a full-tang blade. It’s the knife I use for almost every prep job from chopping carrots to slicing tomatoes. I own an 8″ Henkel and a Wusthof knife but favor the 8″ Wusthof for it’s balance.
My serrated knife comes in handy for softer foods and it’s especially helpful when slicing over ripe tomatoes.
I use my Paring knife for smaller jobs like cutting up the florets of broccoli or coring tomatoes.
I use my honing steele every time I use my Chef knife since keeping a nice sharp edge makes prepping easy and safe.
Bamboo cutting boards are what I prefer since they’re pretty low maintenance, easy on the knives, superior for health and sanitation, they look good, and are earth friendly.